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Il y avait des paysans pauvres dans mon village.

Il y avait des paysans pauvres dans mon village.
There were poor peasants in my village.
From Lesson 132:Past impersonal verbs (il y avait, il fallait)·French

Questions & Answers about Il y avait des paysans pauvres dans mon village.

Since paysans (peasants) is plural, why doesn't il y avait change to a plural form?
Just like il y a means both "there is" and "there are", its imperfect form il y avait means both "there was" and "there were". The French expression stays exactly the same whether it is followed by a singular or plural noun.
How exactly is il y avait built?
It is the past (Imparfait) version of il y a. It literally translates to "it there had". It combines il (an impersonal "it"), y (there), and avait (the Imparfait form of avoir, meaning "to have").
Why does the adjective pauvres come after paysans?
In French, most adjectives are placed after the noun they describe. While a few short, common adjectives (like bon, grand, or jeune) go before the noun, pauvre usually goes after it to mean "financially poor".
Why use dans instead of à for "in my village"?
You typically use à with the names of specific towns or cities (like à Paris). But when you use a common noun for a place along with a word like mon (my) or un (a) in front of it, you generally use dans (in/inside) to say you are physically in that location. So we say dans mon village.

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