Combien de syllabes y a-t-il dans le mot "animal" ?

To count syllables in French, each distinct vowel sound forms one syllable. The word animal breaks down as follows:

• a - first syllable
• ni - second syllable
• mal - third syllable

This gives 3 syllables: a-ni-mal.

Note that in French syllabification, each vowel sound anchors a syllable, and consonants attach to the vowel that follows them when possible. The word does not have 4 syllables because the final -al forms a single syllable (the a is the vowel and l is a closing consonant). It does not have 2 syllables because the initial a- stands alone as its own syllable, separate from ni.