Bonjour, I'm having trouble determining when to use c'est or il est. Is there some rule that I need to know to help me? Thanks, Roger

Salut RogerU, That's a very good question. Basically, you can think of 'c'est' as translating as 'it is' and 'il est' as 'there is.' For example, in English you would use 'there is' in the following sentence: "There is a cat in the backyard." The 'there is' in this sentence would be 'il est' in French. If you wanted to say that cat was black, you'd use 'c'est.' I hope this helps to clarify! Merci and best of luck with your French course! :D

How does " il est " fit in " il est en retard " which means " He is late. "

Salut Rajeev, "être en retard" is an idiomatic expression meaning "to be late". Etre conjugates as follows: Je suis tu es il/elle/on est nous sommes vous sois ils/elles sont Il can mean "it (masculine noun)" or "he". So "il est" means "he is", hence "il est en retard" means "He (or it) is late."

c'est la vie mon ami ........................... =)