"Trotz der Elefanten sind sie gekommen."

Translation: They came despite the elephants.

[rkaup]

Why is elephants plural here when the singular "der" is used?

[Hohenems]

Good question! Trotz (in spite of/despite) is one of those words that demands a case change. Trotz goes with the genetive case. So the definite articles in genetive are Masculine = des, Feminine =der, Neuter = des, Plural = der. So, since Elefant is masculine, the only option is plural. Here's a link to other genetive demanding words: http://german.about.com/library/blcase_gen2.htm

[jaxx2009]

Thank you this is very helpful!

[erusty564]

I second jaxx2009. Thank you very much. :)

[osher32]

Ohhh thanks! That makes great sense as "despite of" is correct.