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Impersonal verbs and expressions - il faut, il y a Impersonal verbs and expressions in French

Impersonal verbs are in the third person and start with 鈥榠l鈥 as they are general statements not related to a particular person. Discover how to use il faut and il y a.

Part of FrenchVerbs and tenses

Impersonal verbs and expressions in French

Some verbs in French are always used in the third person. This means they always start with il as they are impersonal. In other words, they are general statements not related to any particular person.

They are set phrases. Therefore the subject pronoun they start with never changes and they are only ever conjugated (changed into a different tense) in the third person. For example:

  • il fait beau - it鈥檚 nice (weather)
  • il faisait beau - it was nice (weather)
  • il a fait beau hier - it was nice yesterday (weather)
  • il fera beau demain - it will be nice tomorrow (weather)

Weather phrases

FrenchEnglish
Il fait +beauIt鈥檚 nice weather
chaudIt鈥檚 hot
froidIt鈥檚 cold
mauvaisIt鈥檚 awful weather
Il y a +du ventIt鈥檚 windy
du brouillardIt鈥檚 foggy
du soleilIt鈥檚 sunny
Il fait +
Frenchbeau
EnglishIt鈥檚 nice weather
Frenchchaud
EnglishIt鈥檚 hot
Frenchfroid
EnglishIt鈥檚 cold
Frenchmauvais
EnglishIt鈥檚 awful weather
Il y a +
Frenchdu vent
EnglishIt鈥檚 windy
Frenchdu brouillard
EnglishIt鈥檚 foggy
Frenchdu soleil
EnglishIt鈥檚 sunny

There is also:

  • il g猫le - it鈥檚 freezing
  • il neige - it鈥檚 snowing
  • il pleut - it鈥檚 raining

Other set phrases

ExpressionEnglish
Il faut鈥It鈥檚 necessary to
Il est facile deIt鈥檚 easy to
Il est interdit deIt is forbidden to
Il vaut mieuxIt is better to
Il est n茅cessaire deIt鈥檚 necessary to
Il est difficile deIt鈥檚 difficult to
Il est d茅fendu deIt is forbidden to
Il est impossible deIt is impossible to
ExpressionIl faut鈥
EnglishIt鈥檚 necessary to
ExpressionIl est facile de
EnglishIt鈥檚 easy to
ExpressionIl est interdit de
EnglishIt is forbidden to
ExpressionIl vaut mieux
EnglishIt is better to
ExpressionIl est n茅cessaire de
EnglishIt鈥檚 necessary to
ExpressionIl est difficile de
EnglishIt鈥檚 difficult to
ExpressionIl est d茅fendu de
EnglishIt is forbidden to
ExpressionIl est impossible de
EnglishIt is impossible to

Examples:

  • il faut se laver les mains - you need to wash your hands
  • il vaut mieux partir plus tard 鈥 it is be better to leave later
  • il est interdit de fumer ici - smoking is forbidden here
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Further common set phrases with 鈥榠l鈥

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