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Le chancelier et le ministre lisent le pacte ensemble.

Le chancelier et le ministre lisent le pacte ensemble.
The chancellor and the minister read the pact together.
From Lesson 384:Zero article in apposition·French

Questions & Answers about Le chancelier et le ministre lisent le pacte ensemble.

Why do we use the article le before ministre? Shouldn't we drop the article based on this lesson?
We only drop the article in a nominal apposition, which is when a noun directly follows another noun to describe the same person or thing (like Macron, président de la République). In this sentence, le ministre is a different person from le chancelier. They are two separate subjects joined by et, so they both require their own definite article.
If the chancellor and the minister were the same person, how would this sentence change?
If they were the same person, you would drop the second article and say Le chancelier et ministre lit le pacte. By repeating the article here (le chancelier et le ministre), French makes it crystal clear that these are two distinct people reading together.
Does the word ensemble ever take an -s since there are two people reading?
No, ensemble is an adverb here, meaning it modifies the verb lisent (they read together) and is strictly invariable. Even though there are multiple subjects, adverbs never agree in gender or number in French.
How is the verb lisent pronounced compared to the singular form lit?
The third-person plural ending -ent is completely silent. However, the s in the stem is pronounced like a Z because it sits between two vowels. So lisent sounds like 'leez', whereas the singular lit has a silent T and sounds like 'lee'.

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