y avoir

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word y avoir. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word y avoir, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say y avoir in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word y avoir you have here. The definition of the word y avoir will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofy avoir, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

French

Etymology

Literally, “to have there”; from Middle French y avoir, from Old French i avoir, from Latin hīc (“here”) and habēre (“to have”). Compare Catalan haver-hi and Spanish hay.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /i.j‿a.vwaʁ/, /j‿a.vwaʁ/
  • Audio(file)

Verb

y avoir

  1. (impersonal, transitive) there be
    Il y a deux raisons. ― There are two reasons.

Usage notes

  • As with other impersonal verbs, the subject of y avoir is always il (sometimes indirectly, as in Il semble y avoir un problème (“There seems to be a problem”). Thus, unlike be in English (for there to be), which often takes plural forms, avoir always appears in one of its third-person singular forms. Thus, il y a une chose and il y a deux choses are equivalent to there is one thing and there are two things.
  • The syntax is the ordinary syntax for adverbial pronoun y and transitive verb avoir;
    • Il y en a deux. ― There are two of them.
    • Y a-t-il une différence ? ― Is there a difference?
    • N’y a-t-il plus de fromage ? ― Isn't there any more cheese?
    • Va-t-il y avoir du monde ? ― Is there going to be a lot of people?
    etc.

Conjugation

This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.

Conjugation of y avoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple y avoir
compound y avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple y ayant
/i.j‿ɛ.jɑ̃/ or /i.j‿e.jɑ̃/
compound y ayant + past participle
past participle eu
/y/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present — — y a
/i.j‿a/ 		— — —
imperfect — — y avait
/i.j‿a.vɛ/ 		— — —
past historic2 — — y eut
/i.j‿y/ 		— — —
future — — y aura
/i ɔ.ʁa/ or /i.j‿o.ʁa/ 		— — —
conditional — — y aurait
/i ɔ.ʁɛ/ or /i.j‿o.ʁɛ/ 		— — —
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of y avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of y avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of y avoir + past participle
future perfect future of y avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of y avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present — — y ait
/i.j‿ɛ/ 		— — —
imperfect2 — — y eût
/i.j‿y/ 		— — —
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of y avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of y avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — — — — — —
compound — simple imperative of y avoir + past participle — simple imperative of y avoir + past participle simple imperative of y avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

See also

Middle French

Etymology

Old French i avoir, from Latin hīc (“here”) and habēre (“to have”).

Verb

y avoir (impersonal)

  1. there be
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 77:
      Il y a ung chevalier en ceste forest le plus grant et le plus merveilleux que vos veissiez oncques.
      There is a knight in this forest, the greatest and most marvellous that you will ever see.

Descendants

  • French: y avoir
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia