The pronoun Y: Il y a (there is), il y a (he has there) – confusionHello 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
I found this sentence interesting:
Nous n'avons acheté aucune voiture.
Don't both parts of a negation (ne + plus/jamais/que/etc) usually go before the participle?
The translation Is ‘I didn’t recognize you.’
Please explain why the plus que parfait is used here instead of the passé compose.
Thanks.
When do you use tôt and when en advance
Hi, i used "très mignon" and the answer rather suggest "trop mignon". In which cases you can use those two distinctively ?
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
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