elephant

Everyday

1. An elephant is a very large grey animal with a long trunk, big ears and usually tusks; it lives in Africa and Asia. tree →
2. «The elephant in the room» is a big problem everyone knows about but nobody talks about. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons elephants are mammals and herbivores; the African elephant is the largest land animal. In maths word problems elephants show big weights: an adult elephant can weigh about 6 tonnes. In stories and sayings: «an elephant never forgets». Phrases: the elephant in the room, white elephant (a costly, useless thing).

Examples

• The elephant sprayed water with its trunk. tree →
• African elephants have bigger ears than Asian elephants. tree →
• An elephant eats plants all day. tree →
• Baby elephants stay close to their mothers. tree →
• The elephant weighs as much as five cars. tree →
• Nobody mentioned the broken window — it was the elephant in the room. tree →
• There are 3 elephants and each eats 150 kg of food a day. tree →

Note

Countable; «an elephant» because it starts with a vowel sound. A young elephant is a calf; a group is a herd. Spelling: -ph- sounds like f. Myth: elephants are afraid of mice — no real evidence.