Breakdown of Il y a quinze garçons et seize filles.
le garçon
the boy
la fille
the girl
et
and
il y a
there is / there are
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?
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'.