Breakdown of Dans notre village, il y a peu de pollution, et l'environnement est encore très vert.
Questions & Answers about Dans notre village, il y a peu de pollution, et l'environnement est encore très vert.
In French, dans and à both can translate as in, but they are used differently.
dans is used when you’re really inside a limited space:
- dans la maison – in the house
- dans le jardin – in the garden
- dans notre village – in our village (within the boundaries of the village)
à is used more with:
- towns and cities: à Paris, à Londres
- some countries/regions: à Cuba, à Tahiti
- certain fixed expressions: à la campagne (in the countryside), à l’école (at school)
A village is treated like a small, concrete place you’re physically inside, so dans notre village feels more natural here than à notre village.
You can say dans notre ville (“in our town/city”) in the same way.
Il y a is the usual way to say there is / there are in French.
- It doesn’t literally translate word‑for‑word; think of it as one fixed expression.
- It never changes for singular or plural:
- Il y a un arbre. – There is a tree.
- Il y a des arbres. – There are trees.
In the sentence:
- Il y a peu de pollution = There is little pollution.
For other tenses:
- Il y avait – there was / there were (imperfect)
- Il y aura – there will be
- Il y a eu – there has been / there was (completed event)
Both involve peu (“little / not much”), but the nuance is very different:
peu de pollution
- Means little pollution / not much pollution, often with a slightly negative flavor: “a small amount, maybe less than expected.”
- It can imply scarcity: there is barely any.
un peu de pollution
- Means a little (bit) of pollution / some pollution.
- More neutral or even slightly positive: “there is some, but it’s not a lot.”
So:
- Il y a peu de pollution. – There is little pollution (almost none).
- Il y a un peu de pollution. – There is a bit of pollution (some, but not a lot).
After expressions of quantity, French generally uses de (or d’), without any article:
- beaucoup de pollution – a lot of pollution
- peu de pollution – little pollution
- trop de pollution – too much pollution
- assez de pollution – enough pollution
So the pattern is:
[quantity word] + de + noun
You don’t say peu de la pollution unless you are referring to a specific previously mentioned part of the pollution, which would be very unusual here. In a general statement like ours, the correct form is peu de pollution.
Like in English, pollution here is an uncountable noun, referring to pollution in general, not separate “pollutions.”
- In English you say: “There is little pollution”, not “a pollution” or “some pollutions” in this context.
- French works similarly: pollution is used as a mass noun, so you don’t add an article after peu de.
That’s why we get:
- Il y a peu de pollution. – There is little pollution.
If you wanted to talk about types of pollution, you could, in specific contexts, say des pollutions (plural), but that is more technical and not what’s happening in this sentence.
Environnement is a masculine noun in French:
- un environnement, le environnement (in theory)
However, because environnement starts with a vowel sound, le becomes l’ in front of it. This is called elision.
- le environnement → l’environnement
So:
- l’environnement = the environment
Masculine gender is also why the adjective later is vert and not verte:
- l’environnement est vert. – the environment is green.
In l’environnement est encore très vert, encore means still:
- L’environnement est encore très vert.
→ The environment is still very green.
Other common meanings of encore:
- again
- Fais-le encore. – Do it again.
- more (in some contexts)
- Encore un café ? – Another coffee? / One more coffee?
- even in combinations like encore plus (even more)
- C’est encore plus difficile. – It’s even more difficult.
- yet in negative sentences
- Je n’ai pas encore fini. – I haven’t finished yet.
So the meaning depends on context. In our sentence, with the verb être in a positive statement, encore naturally means still.
Adjectives in French agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
- environnement is masculine singular.
- The base form of the adjective vert is masculine singular.
- So you use vert here (not verte, which is the feminine singular form).
Forms of vert:
- Masculine singular: vert
- Feminine singular: verte
- Masculine plural: verts
- Feminine plural: vertes
Examples:
- Un arbre vert – a green tree (masc. sing.)
- Une plante verte – a green plant (fem. sing.)
- Des arbres verts – green trees (masc. pl.)
In our sentence:
L’environnement (masc. sing.) est très vert.
It can suggest both, depending on context, but in a sentence about pollution and the environment, the usual reading is:
- vert = green / lush / full of nature
– lots of trees, plants, fields, natural landscapes.
There is also the more modern sense of “environmentally friendly, ecological”:
- une entreprise verte – a green / eco-friendly company
In l’environnement est encore très vert, it most naturally suggests:
- The surroundings are still very green and natural (not built up),
- and by extension, the place feels unspoiled and environmentally healthy.
French punctuation is flexible here.
You can put a comma before et when it separates two independent clauses (two units that could be full sentences):
- Il y a peu de pollution, et l’environnement est encore très vert.
→ each part could stand alone.
- Il y a peu de pollution, et l’environnement est encore très vert.
You can also omit the comma:
- Il y a peu de pollution et l’environnement est encore très vert.
Both versions are acceptable. The comma can add a slightly clearer pause or separation, but it’s not obligatory in this case.
Yes, you can definitely say:
- Il y a peu de pollution dans notre village, et l’environnement est encore très vert.
This is grammatically correct and very natural.
Difference in feel:
Dans notre village, il y a peu de pollution…
– Emphasizes in our village first, as the topic: As for our village, there is little pollution…Il y a peu de pollution dans notre village…
– Slightly more neutral; you start with the situation (there is little pollution) and then specify where.
Both are fine. French often puts a location expression at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis or for a smoother flow of information.
Yes, a few:
Dans
- Final -s is silent.
- The an is a nasal vowel: don’t pronounce a full n; air goes through the nose.
notre
- The -re is light: NO-tr (short tr at the end). Not like English “note-ruh”.
il y a
- Flows almost like one word: [i-lia].
- The l is pronounced, but the y creates a y sound linking to a.
pollution
- Double l is like a single l in English “polu-”, but the u is [y] (like German ü).
- Final -tion is pronounced [sjɔ̃] (like “syoh” with a nasal).
l’environnement
- Elision: l’ sticks to the next word: l’environnement said together.
- The -ent at the end is silent in normal speech: [lɑ̃viʀɔnəmɑ̃] (approx).
- Again, en gives a nasal vowel.
est encore
- The st in est is pronounced [ɛ] (no final consonant).
- Often flows into encore: [ɛ tɑ̃kɔʀ].
très
- è is like English “e” in “bed” but more tense.
- Final -s is pronounced [trɛs].
vert
- Final -t is pronounced: [vɛʀt].
- Don’t say it like the English word “fair”; it’s more like “vair-t”.
Practicing the whole sentence slowly, then speeding up, helps get used to the linking and nasal vowels.