Questions & Answers about L'éléphant est le plus gros animal.
Why is it le plus gros animal and not l'animal le plus gros?
The placement of a superlative depends on where the adjective normally goes. Because gros describes size, it is part of the short list of adjectives (often remembered by the acronym BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size) that come before the noun. Therefore, its superlative form le plus gros also goes before the noun.
Could I say le plus grand animal instead of using gros here?
Do I pronounce the 's' at the end of gros in this sentence?
Yes, you do! Even though the 's' in gros is normally silent, it is immediately followed by a word starting with a vowel (animal). This creates a spoken link called a liaison. You pronounce the 's' like a "z" sound: "gro-za-ni-mal".
In English we usually say "Elephants are the biggest animals." Can I use the plural in French too?