LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "l'animal (m.)" in French?
la-nee-MAL — three beats with the article fused on, and a light "l" at the end.
l'a-ni-MAL, weight on the final syllable. The plural is irregular — "les animaux", with the "-al" becoming "-aux" and the "x" silent — so the two forms sound quite different.
Listen: l'animal (m.)
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Le chien est mon animal préféré.
The dog is my favorite animal.
Listen: Le chien est mon animal préféré.
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"Le chien est mon animal préféré" carries a liaison: "mon animal" is /mɔ̃.n‿a.ni.mal/, with the nasal of "mon" producing a real "n". "Préféré" has three accented or plain "e"s giving closed "ay" sounds, and it agrees with the masculine noun. "Chien est" runs together across the vowels.
Where English speakers slip
English "animal" stresses the first syllable and reduces the other two to schwas. French keeps all three vowels full and puts the weight at the end. Learners also make the final "l" dark and back — keep it bright and forward. And the plural change catches people: "animaux", not "animals".