Grammaire 1: il y a
cgloor
On étudie !
Use the expression il y a (there is/there are) to talk about the presence (existence) of things (people) around you.
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Il y a + articles indéfinis (un, une, des) + nom | There is, are + (a, some) + noun |
Il y a des tables dans la salle de classe. Il y a un bureau. Il y a une horloge aussi. (There are tables in the classroom. There is a desk. There is also a clock).
If the sentence is constructed in the negative form (i.e. ne…pas), the articles un, une and des are replaced with de or d‘ (in front of a vowel/mute h).
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Il n’y a pas + (de/d’) + nom | There is, are + no + noun |
Il n’y a pas de tables bleues. Il n’y a pas d’horloge numérique. (There are not any blue tables. There are no numerical clock).
Question
To ask a question, use Est-ce qu’il y a…?
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| -Est-ce qu’il y a une horloge dans la classe?
-Oui, il y a une horloge. (Non, il n‘y a pas d‘horloge). -Est-ce qu’il y a des étudiants mexicains? -Oui, il y a José et Maria. |
-Is there a clock in the class?
-Yes, there is a clock. (No there is no clock). -Are there Mexican students? -Yes, there are José and Maria. |
Pour en savoir plus.
Note
Note
Pay close attention to numbers 70, 80 and 90:
- The number 70 is actually “sixty-ten”, (soixante-dix) in French. It then goes “sixty-eleven” (soixante-onze), “sixty-twelve” (soixante-douze), “sixty-thirteen” (soixante-treize), etc.
- The number 80 is quatre-vingts which means “four-twenties” (because four twenties equal eighty, right?). It is also the only number that pluralizes the word vingt (quatre-vingts). It then goes “four-twenty-one” (quatre-vingt-un), “four-twenty-two” (quatre-vingt-deux), “four-twenty-three” (quatre-vingt-trois), all the way to “four-twenty-nineteen” (quatre-vingt-dix-neuf).
- The number 90 is quatre-vingt-dix, literally “four twenty ten” (4 x 20 +10; or 80+ 10; you do the math).
- Once you get past 100, it’s easy; you just start all over again except you have the word “cent” in front of everything: cent un, cent deux, cent trois,… , cent vingt-trois,… , cent quatre-vingt-dix, etc.
