A2 · Episode 14 · 0:56
The Disappearing 'L' in "il y a"
This episode explains the natural pronunciation of "il y a" in spoken French, focusing on how the 'l' sound is commonly dropped in fast, informal speech—and notes regional variations, such as between France and Quebec.
Source：Wandering French · License：CC BY 3.0
Transcript
Bonjour, aujourd'hui je veux vous parler du L qui disparaît.
Hello, today I’d like to talk to you about the L that disappears.
On a vu que le E disparaît souvent, mais le L aussi.
We’ve seen that the E often disappears, but the L does too.
Et le plus important à connaître,
And the most important thing to know is that
c'est le petit L qui disparaît dans l'expression" il y a". "
the little "l" disappears in the expression "il y a".
Il y a", on prononce souvent" ya".
We often pronounce "il y a" as "ya".
au Québec, au Canada, ça peut être il y a.
In Quebec, Canada, it can be 'il y a.'
Donc dans la vidéo Un pad thaï à Bangkok,
So in the video "Pad Thai in Bangkok",
j'ai dit il y a les gens qui font la queue, il y a un line up.
I mentioned that people are queuing up—there's a line up.
Il y a les gens qui font la queue, il y a un line up.
There are people queuing; there's a long line.
On prononce il y a les gens qui font la queue.
We pronounce it 'il y a'; some people are queuing.
Quand je parle du petit dessert à la noix de coco, je dis: il y a deux parties.
When I talk about the coconut dessert, I say: it has two parts.
Il y a deux parties.
There are two parts.
Il y a deux parties.
There are two parts.
et à la fin de la vidéo dans le blooper je dis il y a deux filles qui me regardent
At the end of the video, in the blooper, I say: ‘There are two girls looking at me.’
il y a deux filles qui me regardent
There are two girls looking at me.
quand on parle vite c'est tout contracté et c'est naturel et il faut le comprendre à
When speaking quickly, everything contracts and sounds natural—you need to understand it.
bientôt
Soon.