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Il y a quinze garçons et seize filles.

Il y a quinze garçons et seize filles.
There are fifteen boys and sixteen girls.
From Lesson 28:Numbers 1 to 20·French

Questions & Answers about Il y a quinze garçons et seize filles.

Why do quinze and seize both end in '-ze'?
In French, the numbers from 11 to 16 all end in -ze. Similar to how English uses the '-teen' ending, French uses -ze for onze (11), douze (12), treize (13), quatorze (14), quinze (15), and seize (16).
Does il y a change because there are multiple boys and girls?
No, il y a stays exactly the same whether you are pointing out one single thing or a hundred things. It works for both 'there is' and 'there are'.
Why is there a little hook under the 'c' in garçons?
That mark is called a cedilla. It tells you to pronounce the 'c' with a soft 's' sound. In French, a 'c' followed by an 'o' normally makes a hard 'k' sound, so the cedilla is needed here to keep the 's' sound.
How do you pronounce the double 'l' in filles?
In the word filles, the double 'l' makes a 'y' sound, like in the English word 'yes'. The 's' at the end is silent, so the word sounds like 'fee-y'.

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