Learn French: Il n'y a pas d'arbres sur la plage. - There are no trees on the beach.

In affirmative sentences, you would say Il y a des arbres (There are trees). But when a sentence becomes negative, indefinite articles like un, une, and des change to de (or d' before a vowel). Because this is a negative sentence stating there are zero trees, des becomes d'.

How exactly does Il y a turn into Il n'y a pas?

Il y a is made of three words: Il (it), y (there), and a (has). To make it negative, you put the negative words ne and pas around the verb and the pronoun. The ne drops its 'e' because it is right next to the vowel 'y', creating n'y. So, Il y a becomes Il n'y a pas.

Does Il n'y a pas mean 'there is not' or 'there are no'?

It means both! In French, Il y a is used for both singular ('there is') and plural ('there are'). When negated to Il n'y a pas, it can translate to 'there is no' or 'there are no'. Here, because it refers to the plural noun arbres, it naturally translates to 'there are no'.

Is the 's' at the end of arbres pronounced?