Le chat est gros.

Le is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So Le chat = the cat.

French usually requires an article before nouns much more often than English does. In this sentence, le tells you we are talking about a specific cat, not just any cat.

Chat is the basic masculine form for cat. It can mean:

• a male cat specifically, or
• sometimes just cat in a general way

Chatte is the feminine form, used for a female cat.

So:

• Le chat est gros. = The male cat / the cat is big/fat.
• La chatte est grosse. = The female cat is big/fat.

Est means is. It is the third-person singular form of the verb être (to be).

Because the subject is Le chat (the cat), French uses the he/she/it is form:

• je suis = I am
• tu es = you are
• il/elle est = he/she/it is

So Le chat est gros literally matches The cat is big/fat.

Here, gros is not directly describing the noun inside the noun phrase; it is part of the statement after the verb être.

Structure:

• Le chat = subject
• est = verb
• gros = adjective describing the subject

This is just like English:

• The cat is fat.

If you put the adjective directly before the noun, you get a different structure:

• un gros chat = a big/fat cat

So:

• Le chat est gros. = The cat is fat/big.
• Le gros chat... = The big/fat cat...

It can mean either, depending on context.

With animals or people, gros often suggests fat or large/heavy rather than simply big in a neutral sense.

So Le chat est gros is often understood as:

• The cat is fat, or
• The cat is big

The exact nuance depends on the situation.

Because chat is masculine singular, the adjective must agree with it.

Agreement here:

• masculine singular: gros
• feminine singular: grosse
• masculine plural: gros
• feminine plural: grosses

So:

• Le chat est gros.
• La chatte est grosse.
• Les chats sont gros.
• Les chattes sont grosses.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

luh shah ay groh

More approximately in IPA: /lə ʃa ɛ ɡʁo/

A few key points:

• le = a light luh
• chat = shah
  
  • the ch in French is like English sh
  • the final t is silent
• est = sounds like eh or ay depending on how carefully someone speaks
• gros = groh
  • the final s is silent

Yes.

In chat, the final t is silent.

In gros, the final s is silent.

In est, the final t is also normally silent here.

So although the words are written:

• chat
• est
• gros

they are not pronounced with those final consonants in this sentence.

No, not in normal pronunciation.

You do not link the final t of est to gros, because gros begins with a consonant.

So it is said as separate sounds:

• Le chat est gros
• not Le chat es-t-gros

A liaison could only happen before a vowel sound, and even then it would depend on the word and structure.

Yes, but it means something a little different.

• grand usually means big or large/tall
• gros often means fat, thick, or large/heavy

So:

• Le chat est grand = the cat is big/large
• Le chat est gros = the cat is fat or big/heavy

They are related, but not identical.

Because here the subject is already clearly named: Le chat.

When you already have a noun as the subject, French normally uses:

• Le chat est gros.

C’est is used in other situations, for example:

• identifying something: C’est un chat. = It’s a cat.
• commenting on a situation or idea: C’est gros.

So for The cat is fat, Le chat est gros is the normal sentence.