{"id":15072,"date":"2012-06-10T21:02:41","date_gmt":"2012-06-10T19:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=15072"},"modified":"2017-10-20T13:14:20","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T11:14:20","slug":"how-to-use-the-verb-y-avoir-there-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/how-to-use-the-verb-y-avoir-there-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use the verb “y avoir” (there to be)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The verb y avoir<\/strong> means “there to be”, but in French it has only one form in the present: il y a<\/strong>. Let’s check out some examples:<\/p>\n

Dans mon salon, il y a<\/strong> un canap\u00e9 en tissu.
\nIn my living room, there’s a fabric sofa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dans ma cousine, il y a<\/strong> une cuisini\u00e8re \u00e0 gaz.
\nIn my kitchen, there’s a gas stove.<\/em><\/p>\n

En Afrique, il y a<\/strong> des \u00e9l\u00e9phants.
\nIn Africa, there are elephants.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y a<\/strong> deux choses \u00e0 faire.
\nThere are two things to be done.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y a<\/strong> quelqu\u2019un \u00e0 la porte.
\nThere’s someone at the door.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y a<\/strong> can also be used to express “ago”, related to the past.<\/p>\n

J\u2019ai vu le film il y a<\/strong> trois semaines.
\nI saw the movie three weeks ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y a<\/strong> 2 ans que nous sommes partis.
\nWe left two years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

To make a question with il y a<\/strong>, we can use est-ce<\/em> or inversion.<\/p>\n

Est-ce qu\u2019il y a<\/strong> un chat l\u00e0?
\nY a-t-il<\/strong> un chat l\u00e0?
\nIs there a cat here?<\/em><\/p>\n

Est-ce qu\u2019il y a<\/strong> des enfants?
\nY a-t-il<\/strong> des enfants?
\nAre there any children?<\/em><\/p>\n

We can also use il y a<\/strong> with question words:<\/p>\n

Pourquoi est-ce qu\u2019il y a<\/strong> un chat dans mon lit?
\nWhy is there a cat on my bed?<\/em><\/p>\n

Combien<\/strong> d\u2019enfants y a-t-il<\/strong>?
\nHow many children are there?<\/em><\/p>\n

The expressions Qu\u2019est-ce qu\u2019il y a?<\/em> and Qu\u2019y a-t-il?<\/em> mean \u201cWhat’s wrong?\u201d or \u201cWhat’s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

To make a negative sentence, put n\u2019<\/strong> before y<\/strong> and pas after a<\/strong>. Remember that the definite article must change to de because of the negative structure.<\/p>\n

Il n\u2019y a pas<\/strong> de chat dans la voiture.
\nThere is no cat in the car.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il n\u2019y a pas<\/strong> d\u2019enfants l\u00e0-bas.
\nThere are no children over there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y a<\/strong> is made up of three words:<\/p>\n

1) il<\/strong> – neuter subject
\n2) y<\/strong> \u2013 the pronoun that shows the place of existence
\n3) a<\/strong> \u2013 the third person singular os verb avoir (to have)<\/p>\n

So, to use il y a<\/strong> in another verb tesne, just conjugate avoir<\/em> in this tense. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Il y avait<\/strong> un chat…
\nThere was a cat…<\/em><\/p>\n

Il y aura<\/strong> des chats…
\nThere will be cats…<\/em><\/p>\n

Il n\u2019y a pas eu<\/strong> de chat…
\nThere were no cats…<\/em><\/p>\n

This is is for today! See you next time!<\/p>\n

Want more free resources to learn French<\/a>? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

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 canap\u00e9 en tissu. In my living room, there’s a fabric sofa. Dans ma cousine, il y a une cuisini\u00e8re \u00e0 gaz…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":15076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[346],"class_list":["post-15072","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-french-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t