Learn French: Les amis sont là, ils sont ensemble. - The friends are there, they are together.

Ils is the plural pronoun "they" used for masculine or mixed-gender groups. Since les amis (the friends) is masculine plural, we use ils. If it were a group of only female friends, the spelling would be les amies and we would use elles.

Why is the verb sont used for both les amis and ils?

Sont is the "they" form of the verb être (to be). Because les amis (the friends) is a plural subject that can be replaced by "they", it takes the exact same verb form as ils.

Do I pronounce the 's' at the end of ils in ils sont?

No, the 's' in ils is silent here because the next word (sont) starts with a consonant. It is very important not to make a "z" sound here, because that would sound like ils ont (they have)!

Doesn't là mean "there"? Could this mean "The friends are here"?

Yes, it absolutely can! While là literally translates to "there" (and ici means "here"), French speakers use là all the time to simply mean someone is present. In everyday French, Les amis sont là is the most natural way to say "The friends are here."

Since there are multiple friends, shouldn't have an 's' at the end?