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L'après-midi, il y a beaucoup de gens dans la rue.

L'après-midi, il y a beaucoup de gens dans la rue.
In the afternoon, there are a lot of people in the street.
From Lesson 40:Telling time (il est... heure)·French

Questions & Answers about L'après-midi, il y a beaucoup de gens dans la rue.

Why does the English translation say in the afternoon when there is no French word for in here?
In French, you don't need a preposition to say in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the evening. You just use the definite article (le or l') with the time of day. When you are telling time, you also use this word to specify PM, as in trois heures de l'après-midi for three o'clock in the afternoon.
The translation says there are, but doesn't il y a usually mean there is?
Il y a magically works for both singular (there is) and plural (there are) in French! Even though beaucoup de gens (a lot of people) is plural, il y a doesn't change its form at all.
Since gens (people) is plural, why is it beaucoup de instead of beaucoup des?
After expressions of quantity like beaucoup (a lot), you almost always use just de or d', even if the next word is plural. It is a very strict rule in French, so it is always beaucoup de gens and never beaucoup des gens.
Why do we use dans for dans la rue instead of a word for on?
In French, streets are thought of as enclosed spaces because of the buildings on either side, so you are inside that space (dans) rather than just on the flat surface. While English can use in the street or on the street, French strongly prefers dans la rue.

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