Context:

Congrats! You’ve made it to the second chapter! In this lesson, I teach my students how to describe the various elements that compose their classroom. They look around the classroom and they list everything they see: the windows, the (black)board, the desks, the books and notebooks, etc.
In order to do that, they need to learn this easy French idiomatic expression: Il y a… which simply means there is… or there are…. They also learn to ask What is this?, Is there…/Are there..? and other similar questions. If you are currently a student, you will find this lesson very relevant, I’m sure, but if you’re no longer one, I hope this lesson will help you master the widely-used expression il y a and many other interesting vocabulary.

Goals:

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

describe a typical classroom using Il y a… or il n’y a pas…

be able to ask qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans…?, (What is/are there in…), Qu’est-ce que c’est? (what is this?), and Est-ce que c’est…? (Is this…?)

Chapter 2 –> Lesson 1:

Level of difficulty: Easy

Let’s do some grammar before dealing with the vocabulary

Learning Il y a… and Il n’y a pas…
→ Because we are going to be describing a classroom, we need to know a simple expression that helps us just do that: Il y a, which, as I said earlier, means there is… or there are…. As you can see from this definition, Il y a… can be used to list just 1 (one) item or many items, hence 2 translations there is or there are. Now try to pronounce il y a after me.

Now, as an example, here is a full sentence where I say There are three white shirts on the table

Il y a trois chemises blanches sur la table

→The negation for Il y a is Il n’y a pas de…, which as you already guessed, means There isn’t … or There aren’t… Here is a sound clip to help with the pronunciation:

Again, here is a another sentence where I say There aren’t any white shirts on the table

Il n’y a pas de chemises blanches sur la table

Learning Qu’est-ce qu’il y a…? and Est-ce qu’il y a …(name of object)?

→ Now, let’s modify the examples given above. What if you wanted to ask What is/are there… ?. Then, you need to use Qu’est-ce qu’il y a…?

Now let’s form a complete sentence and ask What is/are there… (on the the table)?: Qu’est-ce qu’il y a sur la table?

Now to ask Is there..?/Are there…?, we use the expression “Est-ce qu’il y a…(name of object)?”
To ask the question “Are there three white shirts on the table?“, we will therefore say:

Est-ce qu’il y a trois chemises blanches?

Learning Qu’est-ce que c’est? and Est-ce que c’est…(name of object)?

→ To ask “What is this?”, simply ask Qu’est-ce que c’est?

Now, if you have some doubts about what you are seeing, you usually ask “Is this…(name of object)”?. In French, this will be Est-ce que c’est…(name of object)?

Let me give you a complete sentence now as an example. I will be asking “Is this a hat?” (As you can see, I like to recycle elements taken from previous lessons, so make sure to review them as you progress thru the course)

Est-ce que c’est un chapeau?Is this a hat?
Oui, c’est un chapeau?Yes, this is a hat?
Non, ce n’est pas un chapeau?No, this is not a hat?

La Salle de Classe / The classroom

The classroom can also be referred to as “La classe”

	une école a schoolVoici une école. Here is a school.
	un tableau un (black)boardC’est un tableau vert. This is a green board.
	une brosse a blackboard eraserLes brosses sont utiles Erasers are useful.
	un livre a bookCe livre est intéressant. This book is interesting.
	une calculatrice a calculatorEst-ce que c’est une calculatrice? Is this a calculator?
	une chaise a chairC’est une chaise marron It’s a brown chair.
	une craie a (piece of) chalkEst-ce qu’il y a de la craie blanche? Is there any white chalk?
	La classe The classUne grande classe A big class. (in term of number of students
	un bureau a deskLe bureau du professeur The teacher’s desk
	une porte a doorLa porte est ouverte The door is open
	une fenêtre a windowIl y a deux fenêtres dans la classe There are 2 windows in the classroom.
	effacer to eraseJ’efface mes fautes I erase my mistakes.
	une gomme an eraserIl y a une gomme dans mon sac There is an eraser in my bag
	échouer to failJe n’aime pas échouer. I don’t like to fail
	réussir to passIl réussit à ses examens. He passes his exams
	une étudiante a female student Une jeune étudiante. A young female student.
	un étudiant a male student Un jeune étudiant. A young male student.
	une horloge a clockIl y a une horloge blanche dans la classe. There is a white clock in the classroom
	un cahier a notebookÉcrivez dans vos cahiers! Write in your notebooks
	un papier a paperJe voudrais du papier, s’il vous plait. I would like some paper, please.
	un stylo a penMarie a un stylo bleu. Mary has a blue pen
	un crayon a pencilEst-ce que c’est un crayon rouge? Is this a red pencil?
	un pupitre a desk (student’s)Ce pupitre est trop petit pour Julien. This desk is too small for Julian.
	une table a tableIl n’y a pas de grande table ici. There isn’t any big table here.
	un professeur a teacherMon professeur est sympa. My teacher is nice.
	une université a universityJ’enseigne dans une université. I teach at a university.

Fun cultural facts to know. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you )

→ Although le professeur (masculine) is the official standard, many French speakers use la prof informally.
In countries such as Switzerland, Canada, and Belgium, La professeur(e) is officially admitted.

→ Unless you really want to be singled out by your teacher as a very rude student, you must never address him or her with “tu” (Remember our lesson on Greetings and Form of address?). In the French school system, you address your teacher with “vous“, and you shouldn’t say “Salut, professeur!” (Hi, professor!) but instead “Bonjour, monsieur/madame“.