Breakdown of Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé de ce projet d'avenir.
Questions & Answers about Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé de ce projet d'avenir.
Il y a is used in two main ways:
Existential meaning:
- Il y a un problème. = There is a problem.
Time expression meaning (with a time word):
- Il y a deux jours = two days ago
- Il y a trois ans = three years ago
- Il y a longtemps = a long time ago
Literally you can think of il y a deux jours as “it there has two days” between now and that event, but in natural English we just say “two days ago.”
In the sentence Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé…, the il y a + time construction is clearly the “ago” meaning because it’s followed by a completed past action.
Yes. Both are correct:
- Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé de ce projet d'avenir.
- Nous avons parlé de ce projet d'avenir il y a deux jours.
French is flexible on the position of time expressions. Putting il y a deux jours at the beginning slightly emphasizes the time; putting it at the end feels more neutral in spoken French. Grammatically, both are fine.
Nous avons parlé is in the passé composé, which is used for:
- Completed, one-time events in the past
- Things you can put on a timeline as finished
Nous parlions is in the imparfait, used for:
- Ongoing or repeated actions in the past
- Background descriptions, habits, “we were talking”
Comparison:
Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé de ce projet.
→ Two days ago, we talked (once; finished).Il y a deux jours, nous parlions de ce projet quand il est arrivé.
→ Two days ago, we were talking about this project when he arrived.
Here nous parlions is the ongoing background action.
In your sentence, it’s a completed conversation at a specific time, so passé composé (nous avons parlé) is the natural choice.
With avoir as the auxiliary (nous avons parlé):
- The past participle never agrees with the subject.
- It only agrees (sometimes) with a direct object if that object comes before the verb.
Here, the structure is:
- Nous (subject)
- avons (auxiliary)
- parlé (past participle)
- de ce projet d'avenir (indirect object introduced by de, so not a direct object)
Because there is no direct object before the verb, parlé stays in its basic form:
- Nous avons parlé.
- Elles ont parlé.
- Il a parlé.
All use parlé, with no extra -s or -e.
In French:
Parler de quelque chose = to talk about something
- Nous avons parlé de ce projet. = We talked about this project.
Parler à quelqu’un = to talk to someone
- Nous avons parlé à Marie. = We talked to Marie.
Parler sur exists, but it has a different meaning: it often suggests talking badly about someone, gossiping:
- Il parle sur elle. = He’s talking about her (behind her back / in a bad way).
For neutral “talk about a topic,” use parler de.
Ce projet d'avenir literally means “this future-type project / this project for the future.”
Nuances:
Ce projet d'avenir
- Often means a project that looks to the future, has long-term importance, or is innovative.
- A bit more compact and idiomatic.
Ce projet pour l’avenir
- Very close in meaning: “this project for the future.”
- Slightly more literal and transparent.
In many contexts you could use either, but projet d'avenir is a common fixed expression suggesting plans or projects that matter for someone’s future (career, life, organization, etc.).
In French, noun + de + noun often forms a kind of compound noun where de is unstressed and sometimes contracted:
- un projet d’avenir
- une voiture de sport
- un livre de cuisine
When avenir is used in this kind of fixed expression, you typically see de in its contracted form d’ before a vowel, without the article:
- projet d’avenir (not projet de l’avenir)
Using de l’avenir would put more emphasis on the future itself (as a specific concept), whereas d’avenir acts more like “future-” as an adjective: future-oriented project.
So projet d’avenir functions like a set phrase meaning “future project / project for the future.”
It’s not strictly required, but it is normal and recommended.
- Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé…
The comma marks a pause after the fronted time phrase.
In spoken French, there’s usually a small pause there. In writing, the comma makes the sentence clearer, especially when an adverbial phrase (like a time expression) is placed at the beginning.
Yes:
- On a parlé de ce projet d’avenir.
- Nous avons parlé de ce projet d’avenir.
Both mean “We talked about this future project.”
Differences:
- On is extremely common in informal spoken French for “we.”
- Nous sounds more formal or written, though it’s also used in careful speech.
Grammatically both are correct; the choice is mostly about register and style.
On its own, il y a can mean:
There is/are (present)
- Il y a un problème. = There is a problem.
There was/were (in the past) if the context is in a past tense
- Il y avait deux jours de pluie. = There were two days of rain.
But il y a + a specific time expression almost always means “ago”:
- Il y a deux jours = two days ago
- Il y a trois semaines = three weeks ago
You recognize this use because:
- It’s followed by a time word (deux jours, trois ans, longtemps, etc.).
- It’s usually attached to another verb in the past describing something that happened.
So in Il y a deux jours, nous avons parlé…, the only natural reading is “Two days ago, we talked…”
Key points:
- Il y a → sounds like [ee-lya]; the l and y link: il-ya.
- deux → [deu], final x is silent.
- jours → [zhoor], final s is silent.
- Often there is a liaison: deux‿jours → [deu zjhoor] (the x becomes a z sound).
- nous avons → obligatory liaison: nous‿avons → [nou zavon].
- parlé → final é pronounced [ay], no t or d at the end.
- de ce → [də sə] (very short e sounds).
- projet → [pro-zhè], t is silent.
- d'avenir → [dav-nir], the d’ links smoothly to avenir.
Putting it together naturally:
Il y a deux‿jours, nous‿avons parlé de ce projet d'avenir.
[ee-lya deu zjhoor, nou-zavon par-lay də sə pro-zhè dav-nir]
- projet is masculine: un projet, le projet
- avenir is also masculine: un avenir, l’avenir
In the sentence:
- ce projet d’avenir → ce is the masculine singular demonstrative (this/that).
Feminine would be cette.
Nothing else needs to change in this sentence; the gender is correctly reflected by ce and by the use of projet and avenir as they are.