French grammar · Beginner
Il y a in French: There Is, There Are, and Ago
Il y a means there is and there are, with one single form for both. It is built from the impersonal il, the pronoun y meaning there, and the verb avoir, and it never becomes plural. Combined with a length of time it does a second job entirely: il y a trois ans means three years ago.
Il y a trois boulangeries dans cette rue.
There are three bakeries on this street.
What it is
Il y a is three words that behave as one. Literally it says it has there, which is French's way of asserting that something exists somewhere. Because the grammatical subject is the empty il, the expression is frozen in the singular no matter how many things you go on to mention.
Il y a un problème, il y a des problèmes, il y a deux ans. — There's a problem, there are problems, two years ago.
How to spot it
One form covers both English there is and there are. If you need to change the tense, only avoir moves: il y avait, il y a eu, il y aura.
- Il y a du monde ce soir. — There are a lot of people tonight.
- Il n'y a pas de place. — There's no room.
- Il y avait un chat dans le jardin. — There was a cat in the garden.
- Elle est partie il y a une heure. — She left an hour ago.
In speech the whole thing often collapses to y a: y a personne, there's nobody. It's informal but extremely common.
Il y a Quick Reference
Il y a in every tense and every shape
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| il y a | there is / there are | il y a un souci — there's a problem |
| il n'y a pas de | there isn't / aren't any | il n'y a pas de lait — there's no milk |
| y a-t-il ? / il y a … ? | is there? are there? | y a-t-il un médecin ? — is there a doctor? |
| il y avait | there was / there were | il y avait du bruit — there was noise |
| il y a eu | there was (an event) | il y a eu un accident — there was an accident |
| il y aura | there will be | il y aura du soleil — it will be sunny |
| il y aurait | there would be | il y aurait une solution — there would be a solution |
| il y a + duration | … ago | il y a deux jours — two days ago |
Common Il y a Examples in French
Il y a at work:
Saying What Exists
- Il y a un supermarché au coin de la rue.
- There's a supermarket on the corner.
- Il y a beaucoup de touristes en août.
- There are a lot of tourists in August.
- Il y a quelqu'un à la porte.
- There's someone at the door.
- Il y a trente élèves dans la classe.
- There are thirty pupils in the class.
Singular and plural are identical: il y a un chat, il y a dix chats. Ils y ont does not exist.
Negatives and Questions
- Il n'y a plus de pain.
- There's no bread left.
- Il n'y a rien à faire.
- There's nothing to be done.
- Est-ce qu'il y a un problème ?
- Is there a problem?
- Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ?
- What's the matter?
Under negation the article becomes de: il y a du lait becomes il n'y a pas de lait.
Ago
- Je l'ai vu il y a deux jours.
- I saw him two days ago.
- Il est parti il y a cinq minutes.
- He left five minutes ago.
- Nous avons déménagé il y a longtemps.
- We moved a long time ago.
- Ça s'est passé il y a des années.
- It happened years ago.
Here the main verb is in a past tense, because you're locating a finished event on the timeline.
Il y a … que for Duration
- Il y a deux heures que j'attends.
- I've been waiting for two hours.
- Il y a longtemps que je ne l'ai pas vu.
- It's been a long time since I saw him.
- Il y a trois ans qu'elle habite ici.
- She's lived here for three years.
- Il n'y a pas longtemps qu'il travaille avec nous.
- He hasn't been working with us long.
With que added, the verb goes into the present and the meaning becomes for rather than ago.
How Il y a Works
Three fixed words, an empty subject, and two meanings that depend entirely on what follows.
It Never Becomes Plural
The subject is the impersonal il, so avoir stays in the third person singular whatever comes next. There is no plural form of this expression anywhere in French.
Il y a deux voitures devant la maison.
There are two cars in front of the house.
One form, singular and plural.
Only Avoir Changes Tense
Il and y are fixed; avoir carries the tense. That gives il y avait for the past state, il y a eu for a past event, il y aura for the future and il y aurait for the hypothetical.
Il y avait du monde, puis il y a eu un orage.
There were a lot of people, then there was a storm.
il y + avoir in any tense.
Negation Wraps Around Y
Ne goes before y and pas after the verb: il n'y a pas, il n'y avait pas, il n'y a plus. The article after it becomes de: il n'y a pas de café.
Il n'y a pas de solution simple.
There's no simple solution.
il n'y a pas de…
Questions Use Est-ce Que or a Linking T
Est-ce qu'il y a is the everyday question form. The inverted y a-t-il exists and is more formal, and the -t- is inserted purely so two vowels don't collide.
Y a-t-il une pharmacie près d'ici ?
Is there a chemist near here?
est-ce qu'il y a, or y a-t-il.
Duration Depends on Que
Il y a plus a length of time means ago, and the sentence's main verb is in the past. Add que and the meaning flips to for, with the verb in the present: il y a deux ans que j'habite ici.
Il y a deux ans que je travaille ici.
I've been working here for two years.
No que, ago; with que, for.
Common Mistakes with Il y a
Incorrect: Ils y ont trois chaises. — There are three chairs.
Correct: Il y a trois chaises. — There are three chairs.
The expression is frozen. English changes is to are, but French keeps il y a for any quantity, because the subject is the empty il rather than the chairs.
Incorrect: Il n'y a pas du lait. — There's no milk.
Correct: Il n'y a pas de lait. — There's no milk.
Under negation, du, de la, des and un all become de. This is the same rule that turns j'ai un chien into je n'ai pas de chien.
Incorrect: Il y a deux ans que j'ai habité ici. — I've lived here for two years.
Correct: Il y a deux ans que j'habite ici. — I've lived here for two years.
With que, the situation is still going on, so French uses the present. The past tense would turn the sentence into two years ago I lived here.
Incorrect: Il y a un problème avec la porte, il y a grave. — There's a problem with the door, it's serious.
Correct: Il y a un problème avec la porte, c'est grave. — There's a problem with the door, it's serious.
Il y a can only be followed by a noun. To describe something with an adjective you need c'est, which identifies rather than asserts existence.
Il y a Through the Tenses
Because there is only ever one person, learning il y a in a new tense means learning one form, not six.
The only person that exists
The dashes are not omissions. Il y a has no other persons, in any tense, in any register.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | — | — | — |
| tu | — | — | — |
| il | il y a | il y avait | il y aura |
| nous | — | — | — |
| vous | — | — | — |
| ils / elles | — | — | — |
Il y ont, ils y a and similar inventions are all impossible: the il cannot be replaced.
All the forms you need
These are the shapes il y a takes in ordinary French, plus the two semi-auxiliary versions that behave the same way.
| Pronoun | forme | sens |
|---|---|---|
| présent | il y a | there is / there are |
| imparfait | il y avait | there was / there were (a state) |
| passé composé | il y a eu | there was (an event) |
| futur | il y aura | there will be |
| conditionnel | il y aurait | there would be |
| subjonctif | qu'il y ait | that there is |
| avec un semi-auxiliaire | il va y avoir, il doit y avoir | there's going to be, there must be |
Note the word order with a semi-auxiliary: the y moves in front of the infinitive avoir, giving il va y avoir. The subjunctive qu'il y ait appears after doubt, emotion and necessity: je ne crois pas qu'il y ait un problème.
Il y a for Time: Ago, For, and How Long
The time uses account for a great deal of everyday French and hinge on a single small word, que.
Il y a + duration = ago
With no que, il y a places a finished event in the past. The main verb goes into the passé composé or the imperfect, never the present.
- Je suis arrivé il y a trois jours.
- I arrived three days ago.
- Il y a longtemps, cette rue était calme.
- A long time ago, this street was quiet.
- Nous nous sommes rencontrés il y a dix ans.
- We met ten years ago.
- Elle a téléphoné il y a une minute.
- She rang a minute ago.
The time phrase can go at the start or the end of the sentence with no change of meaning.
Il y a … que = for
Add que and you get a duration running up to now. The verb after que goes into the present, exactly as it does with depuis.
- Il y a une heure que je t'attends.
- I've been waiting for you for an hour.
- Il y a des années qu'on ne s'est pas vus.
- We haven't seen each other for years.
- Il y a combien de temps que tu apprends le français ?
- How long have you been learning French?
- Il y a six mois qu'elle travaille ici.
- She's been working here for six months.
Ça fait … que is the commoner spoken equivalent: ça fait une heure que j'attends.
Fixed phrases and the spoken forms
Il y a anchors several set expressions, and in relaxed speech it contracts heavily.
- Il n'y a qu'à demander.
- You only have to ask.
- Il n'y a pas de quoi.
- You're welcome. / Don't mention it.
- Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ?
- What's wrong?
- Il y a de quoi être fier.
- There's reason to be proud.
Il n'y a qu'à plus an infinitive is how French says all you have to do is, and it often sounds slightly impatient.
Il y a FAQs
- What does il y a mean in French?
- There is or there are. Il y a un chien and il y a trois chiens use exactly the same form, because the grammatical subject is the impersonal il, not the noun that follows.
- How do you say 'there were' in French?
- Il y avait for a background state (il y avait du monde) and il y a eu for a specific event (il y a eu un accident). The choice mirrors the usual imperfect-versus-passé-composé decision.
- Does il y a also mean ago?
- Yes. With a length of time and no que it means ago: je l'ai vu il y a deux jours, I saw him two days ago. Add que and it means for: il y a deux jours que je l'attends.
- How do you make il y a negative?
- Il n'y a pas, with ne before y and pas after the verb, and the following article reduced to de: il n'y a pas de place. Other negatives work the same way: il n'y a plus, il n'y a rien, il n'y a personne.
- What's the difference between il y a and c'est?
- Il y a says something exists and is followed by a noun. C'est identifies or describes and can be followed by an adjective. Il y a un problème announces the problem; c'est un problème says that this particular thing is one.