Breakdown of Il y avait un roi riche et un paysan pauvre.
un
a / an (masculine)
et
and
le roi
the king
il y avait
there was, there were
Questions & Answers about Il y avait un roi riche et un paysan pauvre.
Why is it 'il y avait' here instead of the passé composé 'il y a eu'?
Does il y avait change if we are talking about plural things, like 'there were kings'?
Why do the adjectives riche and pauvre come after the nouns they describe?
In French, most adjectives go after the noun, like un roi riche (a rich king) and un paysan pauvre (a poor peasant). Only a specific group of common adjectives (describing Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size) regularly go before the noun.
Doesn't the adjective pauvre change meaning depending on where it goes?