How to use the verb “y avoir” (there to be)
Posted on 10. Jun, 2012 by Adir in Grammar
The verb y avoir means “there to be”, but in French it has only one form in the present: il y a. Let’s check out some examples:
Dans mon salon, il y a un canapé en tissu.
In my living room, there’s a fabric sofa.
Dans ma cousine, il y a une cuisinière à gaz.
In my kitchen, there’s a gas stove.
En Afrique, il y a des éléphants.
In Africa, there are elephants.
Il y a deux choses à faire.
There are two things to be done.
Il y a quelqu’un à la porte.
There’s someone at the door.
Il y a can also be used to express “ago”, related to the past.
J’ai vu le film il y a trois semaines.
I saw the movie three weeks ago.
Il y a 2 ans que nous sommes partis.
We left two years ago.
To make a question with il y a, we can use est-ce or inversion.
Est-ce qu’il y a un chat là?
Y a-t-il un chat là?
Is there a cat here?
Est-ce qu’il y a des enfants?
Y a-t-il des enfants?
Are there any children?
We can also use il y a with question words:
Pourquoi est-ce qu’il y a un chat dans mon lit?
Why is there a cat on my bed?
Combien d’enfants y a-t-il?
How many children are there?
The expressions Qu’est-ce qu’il y a? and Qu’y a-t-il? mean “What’s wrong?” or “What’s the matter?”
To make a negative sentence, put n’ before y and pas after a. Remember that the definite article must change to de because of the negative structure.
Il n’y a pas de chat dans la voiture.
There is no cat in the car.
Il n’y a pas d’enfants là-bas.
There are no children over there.
Il y a is made up of three words:
1) il – neuter subject
2) y – the pronoun that shows the place of existence
3) a – the third person singular os verb avoir (to have)
So, to use il y a in another verb tesne, just conjugate avoir in this tense. Here are some examples:
Il y avait un chat…
There was a cat…
Il y aura des chats…
There will be cats…
Il n’y a pas eu de chat…
There were no cats…
This is is for today! See you next time!
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About Adir
English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.5 Responses to “How to use the verb “y avoir” (there to be)”
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You might want to check that second example!
I’m afraid that is incorrect. “Y avoir” is nothing more than Avoir, with Y to indicate a certain location (normally, some place that has been referenced before).
Furthermore, it can be conjugated in just about any tense.
Future:
Q: On va au stade ce soir?
A: Non, il va y avoir de la bagarre avec tous ces hooligans.
Y think a song from Rita Mitsouko was “Il va y’avoir du sport” (or was it someone else, I forget)
Past:
Q: Tu t’es amuse a la boum?
A: No, il n’y a eu que des problemes!
Regards,
Antonio
This blog used to be excellent, I’m afraid it is now very unhelpful.
Antonio is 100% right. How can you say “y avoir” is a verb?
Last time I tried to correct something and you deleted my comments
“y avoir” is the infinitive form used in casual speech. As in “Va y’avoir du sport.”
Thanks for the comment, Antonio!