Learn French: Il est là.

Il est là.

He is there.

Breakdown of Il est là.

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Questions & Answers about Il est là.

Why do we use est instead of suis or es?

est is the form of the verb être (to be) that matches with il (he), elle (she), or on (we/one). You use suis for je (I am) and es for tu (you are).

Do I pronounce the 't' at the end of est?

No, the 't' in est is silent here. You just pronounce it like 'eh'. You usually only pronounce the 't' if the next word begins with a vowel sound. Since là starts with a consonant, the 't' stays silent.

Could Il est là also mean 'It is there'?

Yes, it absolutely can! In French, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. If you are talking about a masculine object (like a book or a pencil), you use il to mean 'it'. So Il est là can mean 'He is there' or 'It is there', depending on context.

Why does là have an accent mark? Does it change how it sounds?

The accent mark does not change the pronunciation at all. It is only used to tell the difference in writing between là (there) and la (the feminine word for 'the', which you are also learning in this lesson).