"Il y a principalement des animaux."

Translation: There are mostly animals.

[Yandarn2]

If it is "are", then why is it not il y ont?

[Sjaitkaas]

Because the 'a' from 'il y a' belongs to 'il', this means literaly 'he has there', but I think you should learn this combination 'il y a' as a standard combination.

[Yandarn2]

I learned il y a and il y ont in college and thought i'd remembered them properly. i don't remember the construction above. thanks.