French language Q&A Forum

Could anyone please tell me if there are any rules on if and when you can/cannot replace inanimate nouns with subject pronouns? I read the lesson c'est versus il est/elle est and thought you use c'est with nouns while il/elle est is used with adjectives. 

But I have encountered situations where the writer/speaker uses il/elle est with a noun.

For example, if you are referring to (or pointing at) "une lettre", can you say "Elle est une lettre"? Or can you only say "C'est une lettre."?

Or, if you are referring to "une conversation", can you say "Elle va bien" or can you only say "Ça va bien."? 

Thank you for any clarification. 

For "And I've worked in the same town...", I put "J'ai travaillé dans the la même ville..." but the correct answer is given as "Et je travaille dans la même ville...".

Why is the present conjugation of travailler used instead of the compound tense?

I know it is only correct to say Je vain manger à huit heures. However, in response to À quelle heure ?,  I've seen the phrase At nine o'clock written as both À neuf heures and A neuf heures. Are both A and À correct to use in this instance?

This article says that the translation for "Il viendra de peur que tu ne sois vexée." is "He comes...", but wouldn't "viendra" translate to "will come"? And then "Il va venir" would be the one that is translated to "He's coming..."

Hello, please advise if ´bien entendu’ is an adverb in the phrase J'avais bien entendu parler de ce nouveau poste and parler should be a participle 

Thank you 

Admittedly, I'm more used to Québécois French, but the recording contains what has to be one of the oddest pronunciations of "ben" I have heard. I expect it to rhyme with "hein" or "en", but I swear the recording is closer to "bamme" than anything else. 

Am I missing something, or has my ear glitched? Please let me know.