Editing French grammar (section)

==Existential clauses==
In French, the equivalent of the English [[existential clause]] "there is/are" is expressed with {{lang|fr|il y a}} ([[infinitive]]: {{lang|fr|y avoir}}), literally, "it there has" or "it has to it". As an [[impersonal verb]], the verb may be conjugated to indicate tense, but always remains in the third person singular. For example
* {{lang|fr|Il y a deux bergers et quinze moutons dans le pré.}} – "There are two shepherds and fifteen sheep in the meadow."
* {{lang|fr|Il y aura beaucoup à manger.}} – "There will be a lot to eat."
* {{lang|fr|Il y aurait deux morts et cinq blessés dans l'accident.}} – "There appears to have been (lit. would have) two dead and five injured in the accident." (as in news reporting)
* {{lang|fr|Il n'y avait personne chez les Martin.}} – "There was nobody at the Martins' home."

This construction is also used to express the passage of time since an event occurred, like the English ''ago'' or ''it has been'':
* {{lang|fr|Je l'ai vu il y a deux jours.}} – "I saw him two days ago."
* {{lang|fr|Il y avait longtemps que je ne l'avais pas vu.}} – "It had been a long time since I had seen him."
* {{lang|fr|Le langage d'il y a cent ans est très différent de celui d'aujourd'hui.}} – "The language/usage of one hundred years ago is very different from that of today."

In informal speech, {{lang|fr|il y}} is typically reduced to {{IPA|[j]}}, as in:
* {{lang|fr|Y a {{IPA|[ja]}} deux bergers et quinze moutons dans le pré.}}
* {{lang|fr|Y aura {{IPA|[joʁa]}} beaucoup à manger.}}
* {{lang|fr|Y avait {{IPA|[javɛ]}} personne chez les Martin.}}
* {{lang|fr|Je l'ai vu y a deux jours.}}