Breakdown of Il y a un grand cinéma pour les enfants.
un
a / an (masculine)
l'enfant
the child
grand
big / tall
pour
for
il y a
there is / there are
le cinéma
the movie theater / the cinema
Questions & Answers about Il y a un grand cinéma pour les enfants.
Why does Il y a mean "there is"? Doesn't il mean "he"?
Il y a is a fixed expression that means "there is" or "there are". While it's true that il usually means "he", in this phrase it acts like the "it" in "it is raining". Literally, the phrase translates to "it there has" (il = it, y = there, a = has), but you should just memorize the whole chunk together as "there is".
Why does grand come before cinéma? I thought French adjectives go after the noun.
Why is it les enfants and not des enfants?
In French, we use the plural definite article les (the) when talking about a whole category in a general sense. This sentence means the movie theater is for "children in general." If you used des (some), it would mean the theater is just for "some children".
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