There is - There are

In english, for this case "there is - there are" , you have to think about weither what's next is singular or plurial.

But in french you have a unique expression : Il y a...

"Il" : can be a pronun of he or it. But here, it does not refer to a human being nor a thing.
Let's say it is used when we want to express an idea and don't know what the subject is..like in "It is raining" = Il pleut. (pleut of the verb pleuvoir)

Example :

There is a nice car outside.

-> Il y a une belle voiture dehors.


There are a lot of people today!

Il y a une tonne de monde aujourd'hui!

As you see, "Il y a" remains the same, plurial or not.

Vocabulary/ synonims:

une tonne de = beaucoup de.

nice = sympathique, beau (belle) for a thing, gentil (gentille) for a human or animal