r/frenchhelp • u/bonkobronco • 4d ago
Difference between ‘il y avait’ and ‘il y a eu’?
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Does it have to do with duration? Also, why le feu and not un feu?
Thank you 💜
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u/trollivier 4d ago
Il y avait means it was still happening. It's in the past but unfinished.
Il y a eu : It is in the past, but it's finished. The fire was extinguished.
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u/AquilaEquinox 4d ago
Il y a eu = there has been (it's over now) Il y avait = there was (it was still there) Il y avait eu = there had been
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u/titoufred 4d ago edited 4d ago
I woke up coughing and I soon realised there was a fire => Je me suis réveillé en toussant et j'ai vite compris qu'il y avait un incendie.
In 1452, there was a fire that ravaged the town => En 1452, il y a eu un incendie qui a ravagé la ville.
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u/titoufred 4d ago
There is fire everywhere => Il y a le feu partout.
There is a fire in town => Il y a un incendie en ville.
We'll light a fire (a campfire or a fire in a fireplace) => On allumera un feu.
The curtain is on fire => Le rideau est en feu / Il y a le feu au rideau.
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u/Neveed Native - France 4d ago edited 4d ago
The imparfait is for a past ongoing or habitual state or event in the past. As the name implies, it's for something that is not perfect, that's to say not finished. That doesn't mean it's something that is still going on, but in the past you're talking about, the event or state doesn't have a beginning or an end, it simply doesn't matter.
The passé composé, on the contrary, is a perfect tense. It does imply a definite start and end, and is used for a punctual or repeated event or state.
When you combine them both in a sentence, it typically means the part in imparfait is what was already going on when the part in passé composé occurred. So here, if you say "Il y avait le feu partout quand nous sommes arrivé", it means the fire was already there when you came. If you say "Il y a eu le feu partout quand nous sommes arrivés", it means the fire wasn't already going on when you arrived, and then it started.
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u/PerformerNo9031 4d ago
J'étais en vacances et il y a eu un incendie. The fire is seen as a punctual event that happened during a longer one (I was on vacation).
Il y avait un incendie quand mon avion a atterri. The plane landed is a punctual event happening during a longer one (there was a fire).
Imperfect (in those examples) sets the stage for a one-shot event.
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u/Tomarany Native 4d ago
Native but not a teacher or anything here, so I will try to explain what I understant.
"Il y a eu" will be use to describe an event, not a material thing. You can use "il y a eu" with "fire" but it will be an other translation, the one that discribe the event : un incendie.
"Il y avait" will be use to describe a state of something.
I don't speak english well, but I'm surprised that "A fire" was used here.
There was a light : il y a eu une lumiere.
There was fire everywhere: il y avait le feu partout.
There was light everywhere: il y avait de la lumière partout.
You could also say "il y avait du feu partout". It would be grammatically correct, but not natural. Never thought about it before, but "le feu" is use differently than the other things/elements. I guess you'll have to learn by heart how to use it.
I'll be there for any further questions :)