il y a

\i.l‿j‿a\

/\i.l‿j‿a\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“il y a” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Présent de l’indicatif de y avoir.

Corpus desk

Index FR-il-y-a · il y a · French

il y a · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for il y a
PropertyValue
Headwordil y a
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\i.l‿j‿a\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “il y a” sits in French frequency

il y a falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

il y a is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \i.l‿j‿a\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Présent de l’indicatif de y avoir.".

il y a doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is il y a, spelled I-L- -Y- -A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Présent de l’indicatif de y avoir.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how il y a appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Il y avait des curieux à toutes les fenêtres et des sonneurs de trompe à toutes les encoignures occupées par des cabarets.
  2. « Ils deviennent des acteurs de la conservation de la nature, reconnaît Florian Kirchner. Il y a quelques espèces qui ont pu être sauvées grâce à la captivité, comme le cheval de Przewalski ou la perruche de Maurice. Reste qu’il y a énormément d’échecs. »

Synonyms

il est

Antonyms

il n'y a pas

This word in other languages

there is(English)hay(Español)há(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "il y a"?
"il y a" is spelled I-L- -Y- -A. The IPA pronunciation is \i.l‿j‿a\.
What does "il y a" mean?
As a verb, "il y a" means: Présent de l’indicatif de y avoir.
How do you pronounce "il y a"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "il y a" is \i.l‿j‿a\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "il y a" come from?
"il y a" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list