French language Q&A Forum

Hello all,

I understand the basics of using Y as a pronoun but i’m confused about when to use it in certain cases. Especially when it can look like the fixed expression il y a (there is).

Please look at these examples

1: Il y a une fille – There is a girl

2: Il a une fille à Paris – He has a girl in Paris

3: Il Y a une fille – He has a girl THERE (in Paris)

1 & 3 look the same as both have « il y a », but il y a translates as « there is » in example 1 and « he has there » in example 3

How do you know when Il y a means « there is » or « he has there »

I have been told by a friend that you can’t use “il y a” for “he has there” not for sentence number 3

My question is: Why not ? Y replaces à Paris (one of the main uses of the Y pronoun) – I thought this was a simple logical rule.

My friend said “in french the sentence 3 in english it’s : il a une fille là. missing the “Y” ”

What is the rule around this?

because you can say
il a mangé à Paris > il y a mangé
but obviously in this situation, there cannot be any confusion with il y a (there is)

So my next question is now for ELLE

As above, I have been told that for Il y a une fille (he has a girl there (in Paris)) , you should in fact write

Il a une fille là

This prevents any confusion between il y a (there is) and il y a (he has there)

But for ELLE there is not confusion because « there is » is always « IL y a)

So for

Elle a un garçon à Paris

Can you write…

Elle y a un garçon – she has a boy there (in Paris)

As there is no confusion between il y a (there is) and elle y a (she has there)

Or do you still have to use là instead ?

Elle a une garçon là

I have also been told that elle y a doesnt exist, but surely the following example does.

Elle a mangé à Paris
Elle y a mangé

None of the french people i know can give me a rule or a straight answer, so if there is anyone who can answer these questions, I would be very grateful.

Best wishes,
Louis

Bonjour,

I have a question regarding the same sentence another person posted about.  "Rosa craint que nous n'allions en vacances."  This confuses me as well, because I took it to mean "Rosa is afraid we might go on vacation."  Is that correct?  That is not what it shows for an answer in the quiz.  It says "Rosa fears we might never go..."  But if ne has no negative value, it cannot mean never.

Merci,

Lisa

I just took one of the writing quizzes and am confused by two grammar issues: using imparfait after "bien que". The sentence: "even though she had already been camping in this forest for a week.

1. I wrote: "Bien qu'elle campait déjà depuis une semaine dans cette forêt"  I assumed this is correct because we're saying "had already been" with depuis.  However, the correct answer was supposed to be, "Bien qu'elle campe déjà dans cette forêt depuis une semaine" ( I thought the present tense with "depuis" would mean "was or has been"camping).

2. Also, since the verb is after "bien que" should we use the subjunctive imparfait: compât ? "Bien qu'elle campât déjà depuis une semaine dans cette forêt"

I wrote “Non, je ne suis pas contente du tout” and this answer was accepted as nearly correct. Why, what is the difference? I thought the two expressions are interchangeable.

thank you

Can you tell me which is the correct translation in this case and why?

I find it hard to decide which category it comes in.

It is logical that you have gone first.

1. Il est logique que vous soyez passée la première

2. C'est logique que vous soyez passée la première