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Il y a cinq livres sur la table.

Il y a cinq livres sur la table.
There are five books on the table.
From Lesson 28:Numbers 1 to 20·French

Questions & Answers about Il y a cinq livres sur la table.

Does the number cinq change if it is describing a feminine word?
No, it stays exactly the same. While the number one changes (un for masculine, une for feminine), the numbers 2 through 20 never change their spelling to match a word's gender. Cinq is always cinq.
Do I add an 's' to cinq because there are multiple books?
No, cardinal numbers like cinq do not get made plural with an 's'. Only the noun they describe (livres) gets the plural 's'.
Il y a usually means 'there is'. Why is there no plural version for 'there are'?
That is one of the nice and easy things about French! The expression il y a works for both singular ('there is') and plural ('there are'). It never changes, even when you are talking about multiple things like cinq livres.
How do you pronounce the 'q' at the end of cinq in this sentence?
Normally, the 'q' is pronounced like a hard 'k' sound. However, when cinq is followed by a word starting with a consonant (like the 'l' in livres), native speakers sometimes drop the 'k' sound to speak faster. Pronouncing the 'k' is always correct, though!
Do I pronounce the 's' at the end of livres?
No, the 's' at the end of regular plural nouns is almost always silent in French. You pronounce it exactly like the singular word livre. The listener knows you mean more than one because you said the number cinq right before it.

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