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il y a, il y avait, il y aura

FoundationHigherAQA

Understand il y a, il y avait, il y aura for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Il y a means there is or there are, with il y avait and il y aura for past and future.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Il y a means there is or there are, and one form covers both — French makes no singular or plural distinction here.

Il y a un livre means there is a book. Il y a des livres means there are some books. The form never changes, which makes it far simpler than the English equivalent.

It changes with tense, and the three forms are all needed. Il y avait is the imperfect, meaning there was or there were. Il y aura is the future, meaning there will be. In the negative it becomes il n'y a pas, and the partitive collapses to de: il n'y a pas de livres.

Revision notes

One form for both numbers

Il y a un livre — there is a book. Il y a des livres — there are some books.

French uses the same form regardless of number, unlike English which switches between is and are.

The three tenses

Il y a — present, there is or there are.

Il y avait — imperfect, there was or there were. Il y aura — future, there will be. All three are built on the verb avoir.

In the negative

Il n'y a pas — there is not.

The partitive collapses to de after the negative: il n'y a pas de livres, never il n'y a pas des livres. This follows the standard negative rule.

Key points

  • Il y a means there is or there are.
  • One form covers singular and plural.
  • Il y avait is the imperfect.
  • Il y aura is the future.
  • The negative is il n'y a pas.
  • The partitive collapses to de after it.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: there are some books. [2 marks]

Working

Il y a des livresuse il y a with the plural noun
The form il y a covers both there is and there areexplain the single form

Example 2

Translate: there was a problem. [2 marks]

Working

Il y avait un problèmeuse the imperfect form
Il y avait is the imperfect of il y aexplain the tense

Example 3

Make this negative: Il y a des livres. [2 marks]

Working

Il n'y a pas de livresplace ne and pas around the verb
Des collapses to de after the negativeapply the partitive rule

Common mistakes

  • Changing il y a for plurals.

    One form covers both.

  • Keeping des after the negative.

    It collapses to de.

  • Confusing il y a with il est.

    Il y a means there is; il est means it is.

  • Forgetting the future form.

    Il y aura is needed for there will be.

Exam tips

  • Use one form for singular and plural.
  • Learn all three tenses.
  • Collapse the partitive to de in negatives.
  • Keep il y a and il est distinct.

Key terms

Il y a
There is or there are.
Il y avait
The imperfect, meaning there was.
Il y aura
The future, meaning there will be.
Impersonal
Having no real subject, as with il y a.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.