Jump to content

n'y a-t-il

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

French

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • IPA(key): /n‿ja.t‿il/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

[edit]

n’y a-t-il

  1. negative form of y a-t-il; isn't there? aren't there? (after a modal adverb or jamais) there isn't, there aren't
    N’y a-t-il rien à faire ?Isn't there anything to do?
    N’y a-t-il pas de trains ?Aren't there any trains?
    Peut-être n’y a-t-il aucune solution.Perhaps there isn't any solution.
    Jamais n’y a-t-il eu autant de monde ici. (present perfect)There has never [lit. ‘not ever’] been that many people here.
    • 2014, Un féminisme radical de plus en plus visible[1]:
      Jamais n’y a-t-il eu autant de femmes engagées sur les campus
      There has never [lit. ‘not ever’] been that many committed women on campuses
    • 2021, "Les écrans sont l’arme du crime idéale pour siphonner notre attention"[2]:
      Pourtant, sans doute jamais n’y a-t-il eu autant de "platistes" - de personnes affirmant que la Terre est plate
      Yet, there has without doubt never [lit. ‘not ever’] been that many "platists" - people claiming that the Earth is flat

Usage notes

[edit]
  • In interrogative clauses, this fragment is typically used either with a negative adverb, such as pas or jamais, or with a negative object, such as rien. Hence "N'y a-t-il pas de trains ?", "N'y a-t-il rien à faire ?", and so on. See ne.
  • It may also be used in declarative clauses after a modal adverb or after jamais (see examples and quotations).