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Il y a quatre-vingts arbres dans le parc.

Il y a quatre-vingts arbres dans le parc.
There are 80 trees in the park.
From Lesson 29:Numbers 21 to 100·French

Questions & Answers about Il y a quatre-vingts arbres dans le parc.

Why does quatre-vingts literally mean 'four twenties'?
French numbers in the 80s and 90s are built by doing a little math! Instead of a single new word for eighty, you say four twenties (4 x 20 = 80), which is quatre-vingts.
Why is there an 's' at the end of vingts in this sentence?
When a number ends in an exact multiple of 20, like 80, the word vingt takes an s to show there are multiple twenties. But watch out: if another number comes right after it, like in 81 (quatre-vingt-un), that s is dropped!
How do you pronounce quatre-vingts arbres together?
Usually, the s at the end of vingts is silent. But because the following word, arbres, starts with a vowel, you must link them together. This connection is called a liaison, and it makes the s sound like a 'z', so it sounds like 'quatre-vingt-Zarbres'.
Does Il y a change because there are multiple trees?
Not at all! Il y a is a fixed phrase meaning both 'there is' and 'there are'. Even though we are talking about 80 trees here, the phrase never changes to a plural form.

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