Breakdown of Sur la première page, il y a des statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements.
Questions & Answers about Sur la première page, il y a des statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements.
In French, sur is the normal preposition for something that is on a page (a flat surface), just like on the first page in English.
- sur la première page = literally on the first page (on that physical page).
- à la page 3 / à la première page can be used too, more like at page 3 / at the first page, often in references or instructions.
- dans la première page would feel wrong here; dans suggests being inside something, not on a flat surface.
So sur la première page is the most natural choice in this context.
Il y a is a fixed French expression that means there is / there are. It never changes form for plural:
- Il y a une statistique. = There is one statistic.
- Il y a des statistiques. = There are (some) statistics.
You cannot say:
- ✗ Il sont des statistiques.
- ✗ Ils sont des statistiques.
And il est usually means he/it is and is followed by an adjective or a profession:
- Il est intéressant. = He/It is interesting.
For introducing the existence or presence of things (there is/are), French always uses il y a.
Des is the indefinite plural article, roughly like some in English, or just a plural marker when English doesn’t use an article:
- des statistiques ≈ some statistics / statistics.
Compare:
- Il y a des statistiques. = There are (some) statistics.
- Il y a les statistiques. = There are the statistics (specific, already known statistics).
You cannot normally drop the article and say just:
- ✗ Il y a statistiques.
In French, a plural common noun almost always needs des, les, or a quantity word (beaucoup de statistiques, peu de statistiques, etc.).
Here, des statistiques means we are not talking about specific, already-identified statistics, just some statistics on that page.
Because page is a feminine noun in French:
- une page, la page.
French ordinal numbers (premier / deuxième / troisième, etc.) behave like adjectives and agree in gender and number with the noun:
- masculine singular: le premier chapitre (the first chapter)
- feminine singular: la première page (the first page)
- masculine plural: les premiers chapitres
- feminine plural: les premières pages
So you must say la première page, not le premier page.
The pattern [abstract noun] + de + noun (no article) is very common to express a general type of activity:
- la consommation de vêtements = clothing consumption in general
- la consommation de viande = meat consumption
- la production de voitures = car production
Here, de vêtements is like saying of clothes / of clothing in a general sense, not about specific clothes.
If you say:
- la consommation des vêtements = the consumption of the clothes (specific clothes that we have in mind).
And:
- ✗ la consommation les vêtements is simply ungrammatical; after consommation, you need de to link the two nouns.
So la consommation de vêtements is the natural, general expression.
Yes, statistiques is the plural of une statistique.
- une statistique = a single statistic / a single data point.
- des statistiques = some statistics (several data points or figures).
English often treats statistics as an uncountable noun (Statistics is interesting), but in French:
- la statistique (singular, without article changes meaning) can be the field of statistics (the science).
- une statistique = one specific statistic.
- des statistiques = multiple statistics.
In this sentence, des statistiques makes sense because we usually have multiple figures or data points on a page.
Grammatically, yes, but stylistically it’s less nice because sur appears twice and the sentence becomes heavier.
Sur la première page, il y a des statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements.
→ Clear and natural. First, you set the place (on the first page), then say what is there.Il y a des statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements sur la première page.
→ Understandable, but the double sur … sur … feels clumsy.
French often likes to put a location or time expression at the beginning:
- Sur la première page, …
- Dans ce chapitre, …
- Hier, …
So the original word order is more elegant and common.
Yes, these are possible, but they carry slightly different tones:
des statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements
→ The most common, neutral way: statistics on / about clothing consumption.des statistiques au sujet de la consommation de vêtements
→ Slightly more formal or explicit: statistics on the subject of clothing consumption.des statistiques à propos de la consommation de vêtements
→ Also about; often a bit more conversational.
All are grammatically correct. For a neutral written sentence (like in a textbook, report, or exercise), sur is usually the best and most natural choice.
All three can refer to clothes, but they differ in register (level of formality):
vêtements
- Neutral, standard word.
- Used in writing, in shops, in formal or informal speech.
- Example: la consommation de vêtements, un magasin de vêtements.
habits
- A bit old-fashioned in everyday modern French, but still used in some fixed expressions.
- Can also mean specific kinds of clothing (like an outfit, a suit) depending on context.
fringues
- Very informal, slangy.
- Equivalent to clothes in a casual way, like gear / stuff / threads.
- You wouldn’t normally use fringues in a neutral written sentence like this.
In this sentence, vêtements is the correct, neutral word.
To negate il y a des statistiques, you say il n’y a pas de statistiques (note how des becomes de):
- Sur la première page, il n’y a pas de statistiques sur la consommation de vêtements.
= On the first page, there are no statistics about clothing consumption.
Key points:
- ne … pas (or n’ … pas before a vowel) goes around y a.
- The plural indefinite article des becomes de (or d’) in a negative sentence:
- Il y a des statistiques. → Il n’y a pas de statistiques.
Very roughly, using English approximations:
première ≈ pruh-MY-air (but with a French r at the end)
- Final -ière sounds a bit like -yair.
statistiques ≈ stah-tee-STEAK (again, French tique at the end)
- All syllables are pronounced: sta-tis-tik, final -s is silent.
consommation ≈ kawn-soh-mah-SYOHN
- con- has a nasal sound (like kon but through the nose).
- -tion in French sounds like -sion (approximately syohn).
vêtements ≈ VET-mahn
- The ê is like the e in bed, but a bit tenser.
- Final -ts is not fully pronounced as in English; in careful speech you may hear a light t, but generally it sounds like two syllables: vêt-ments → often heard as something like vet-mahn with a nasal final -ments.
These are approximations; the exact sounds are distinctively French, especially the r, the nasal vowels, and the u / eu / é / è vowels.
No, not in normal French.
In French, a singular countable noun almost always needs an article:
- la première page (the first page)
- une première page (a first page)
- cette première page (this first page)
So:
- ✗ Sur première page, il y a… → incorrect in standard French.
- ✓ Sur la première page, il y a… → correct.
You might see article-less nouns in telegraphic styles (titles, notes, labels), but in a normal sentence you must include la here.