Il y a

[Sarah]

Hello

What does 'y' stand for in the French expression il y a ? For example;  Il y a un chat dans la voiture.

 

 

Thanks

[George Hunt]

Well "y" is another way of saying "there" . You can also say "là"  to mean "there" but when you use "y"  you have to use it very closely with the verb it is associated with. ( "je l'y ai mis" to mean "I have put it there" , for example -but you could just as well say "je l'ai mis là" and it would mean exactly the same thing )

In the expression "il y a" the "there" meaning  probably is forgotten because the expression is so common (meaning  "there is " or "there are" ) but I have to believe that  "y" originally meant "there" in this expression when it was first used (hundreds of years ago probably)