French Impersonal Verbs
Impersonal verbs in French are ones where the subject il has no real referent. There is no "he" or "it" doing anything. The il is a grammatical placeholder, the same way English uses "there" or "it" in "there is a cat" or "it's raining".
il y a: there is / there are
The all-purpose existence marker. Same form for singular and plural.
- Il y a un chat dans le jardin. (There's a cat in the garden.)
- Il y a trois enfants. (There are three children.)
- Il y a un problème. (There's a problem.)
- Il y a beaucoup de monde. (There are a lot of people.)
The structure parses as il y a = "it there has", but the English equivalent is just "there is / are".
Tense forms:
| Tense | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Present | il y a | there is / are |
| Imparfait | il y avait | there was / were |
| Passé composé | il y a eu | there has / had been |
| Futur | il y aura | there will be |
| Conditionnel | il y aurait | there would be |
Negation: il n'y a pas. Il n'y a pas de pain (there's no bread). The article-becomes-de rule applies here as everywhere.
Question: Y a-t-il un problème? (Is there a problem?) - formal, with inversion. Or Est-ce qu'il y a un problème? - neutral. Or Il y a un problème? - casual.
il faut: one must / it's necessary
Expresses necessity. Followed by a noun, an infinitive, or que + subjunctive (Higher-tier).
With an infinitive:
- Il faut partir. (We have to leave / one must leave.)
- Il faut manger. (One must eat.)
- Il faut être patient. (You have to be patient.)
- Il ne faut pas oublier. (You mustn't forget.)
With a noun (a need for something):
- Il faut du pain. (Bread is needed.)
- Il faut du temps. (Time is needed.)
- Il me faut un stylo. (I need a pen. - me adds the person)
The construction is impersonal - the il refers to nothing. The subject of the infinitive is implied by context.
Tense forms:
| Tense | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Present | il faut | one must |
| Imparfait | il fallait | one had to / it was necessary |
| Passé composé | il a fallu | one had to |
| Futur | il faudra | one will have to |
| Conditionnel | il faudrait | one should / would have to |
il fait + weather
The default construction for weather. Il fait + adjective covers most of it.
- Il fait beau. (The weather is nice.)
- Il fait chaud. (It's hot.)
- Il fait froid. (It's cold.)
- Il fait mauvais. (The weather is bad.)
- Il fait jour. (It's daylight.)
- Il fait nuit. (It's nighttime.)
For weather as a verb (the active phenomenon), French uses il + weather verb:
- Il pleut. (It's raining.)
- Il neige. (It's snowing.)
- Il gèle. (It's freezing.)
Or il y a + noun:
- Il y a du soleil. (It's sunny.)
- Il y a du vent. (It's windy.)
- Il y a du brouillard. (It's foggy.)
All three patterns coexist. Foundation tier wants you confident with il fait + adj and il pleut / il neige at a minimum.
il est + time
Time-telling uses il est (not il y a, not il fait).
- Il est trois heures. (It's three o'clock.)
- Il est midi. (It's noon.)
- Il est minuit et demi. (It's half past midnight.)
- Quelle heure est-il? (What time is it?)
The same il est is used in some Higher-tier impersonal constructions (il est difficile de..., il est interdit de...), but for Foundation tier it's mostly the time-telling verb.
il manque, il reste (briefly)
Two more impersonal verbs worth recognising:
- Il manque trois personnes. (Three people are missing.)
- Il reste deux gâteaux. (There are two cakes left.)
The il is grammatical; the real subject (the missing people, the remaining cakes) comes after the verb. These are Higher-tier on the AQA list but show up at Foundation level in passive listening.
Worked examples
- Il y a beaucoup de monde au marché ce matin. (There are a lot of people at the market this morning.)
- Hier, il y avait un concert dans le parc. (Yesterday there was a concert in the park.)
- Il faut partir maintenant si on veut arriver à l'heure. (We have to leave now if we want to arrive on time.)
- Il ne faut pas oublier ton passeport. (You mustn't forget your passport.)
- Il fait beau, mais il y a du vent. (The weather is nice, but it's windy.)
- Hier, il a plu toute la journée. (Yesterday it rained all day.)
- Il est cinq heures et demie. (It's half past five.)
Common mistakes English speakers make
Using il y a for time and il fait for existence: time wants il est, existence wants il y a, weather wants il fait or il pleut. They're not interchangeable. Forgetting the article-becomes-de rule under negation: il n'y a pas du pain is wrong, it's il n'y a pas de pain. And translating "I have to" with j'ai à - the French construction is il faut que je... or just je dois... (with devoir).
See also
- The partitives and de page covers the de rule that applies under negation in il n'y a pas de...
- The French grammar cheatsheet covers the wider A1-B1 foundation.
- The intermediate French grammar page covers il faut + que + subjunctive and the other impersonal constructions (il est difficile de, il vaut mieux que).