No matter how old you are, animal vocabulary in French is both useful and fun to learn. It’s a common topic of interest, as many French people are animal lovers. According to recent statistics, one French household out of two owns at least one animal domestique (pet). Another proof of this undying love is the popular TV show 30 millions d’amis (30 million friends) that used to present reports on animals every week. Having aired for 40 years from 1976 to 2016, it is one of the longest-running French TV shows ever made.
With that in mind, let’s learn some of the most common animal vocabulary in French:
- A note on grammar for French animal vocabulary
- 1. Pets
- 2. Farm animals
- 3. Forest animals
- 4. Jungle animals
- 5. Sea animals
- 6. Birds
- 7. Bonus: 12 French expressions containing animal vocabulary
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A note on grammar for French animal vocabulary
Before we enter the vocabulary of the animal kingdom, there are a few grammar rules to keep in mind. Similar to adjectives, certain words for animals in French have a masculine form and a feminine form. For instance, un chien is a male dog while une chienne is a female dog. Other animals in our vocabulary lists have two completely different words according to their genders, such as un cheval (horse) and une jument (mare).
Finally, in a strange case of French grammar defying biology, some French words for animals only have one form, and therefore one gender. This is why un hamster is always male whereas une souris (mouse) is always female.
In our lists, when relevant and commonly used, we have mentioned both the male and female words for the different animals. Now, let’s move along to some animal vocab.
1. Pets
Talking about your favorite animal domestique (pet), also known as animal de compagnie, is an easy topic to break the ice. It’s as safe a subject as talking about the weather, but also an opportunity to tell more about yourself and your home life. Here are a few common French pet names (pun intended!):
- Un canari >> canary
- Un chat (feminine: une chatte) >> cat
- Un chien (feminine: une chienne) >> dog
- Un hamster >> hamster
- Un lapin (feminine: une lapine) >> rabbit
- Un perroquet >> parrot
- Un poisson rouge >> goldfish
- Une souris >> mouse
- Une tortue >> turtle
2. Farm animals
If you consider taking a quiet holiday in the French countryside or going for a hike to enjoy the landscape, you may want to consider booking a room in a gîte à la ferme (a farm cottage). This is a great way to discover rural France, as well as its local products and traditions. Of course, you are likely to see a few of the following animaux de la ferme (farm animals) along the way:
- Un âne (feminine: une ânesse) >> donkey
- Un canard >> duck
- Un cheval >> horse
- Une chèvre >> goat
- Un cochon >> pig
- Un coq >> rooster
- Une dinde >> turkey
- Une jument >> mare
- Un mouton >> sheep
- Une poule >> hen
- Un taureau >> bull
- Une truie >> sow
- Une vache >> cow
3. Forest animals
If you are already in the countryside, you may even be lucky enough to see a few animaux de la forêt (forest animals), such as:
- Une biche >> hind
- Un castor >> beaver
- Un cerf >> stag
- Un daim >> deer
- Un écureuil >> squirrel
- Un hérisson >> hedgehog
- Un lièvre >> hare
- Un loup (feminine: une louve) >> wolf
- Une loutre >> otter
- Un ours >> bear
- Un porc-épic >> porcupine
- Un raton-laveur >> raccoon
- Un renard (feminine: une renarde) >> fox
- Un sanglier >> boar
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4. Jungle animals
You don’t have to go all the way to a faraway jungle to need this type of vocabulary. A simple trip to the zoo (or such movies as Madagascar) will be the perfect opportunity to test your knowledge of the following words for the animaux de la jungle (jungle animals):
- Une antilope >> antelope
- Un chameau >> camel
- Un crocodile >> crocodile
- Un éléphant >> elephant
- Une girafe >> giraffe
- Un guépard >> cheetah
- Un hippopotame >> hippopotamus
- Une hyène >> hyena
- Un léopard >> leopard
- Un lion >> lion
- Un rhinocéros >> rhinoceros
- Un singe >> monkey
- Un tigre >> tiger
- Un zèbre >> zebra
5. Sea animals
After the zoo, time to go to the aquarium! There is much more under the sea than just a couple of goldfish, so let’s review the French words for some of the most well known animaux marins (sea animals):
- Une anguille >> eel
- Une baleine >> whale
- Un calamar >> squid
- Un crabe >> crab
- Une crevette >> shrimp
- Un dauphin >> dolphin
- Une étoile de mer >> starfish
- Un hippocampe >> seahorse
- Un homard >> lobster
- Une méduse >> jellyfish
- Un morse >> walrus
- Un phoque >> seal
- Une pieuvre >> octopus
- Un pingouin >> penguin
- Un poisson >> fish
- Une otarie >> sea lion
- Un requin >> shark
6. Birds
Wherever you are, even in urban environments, you only need to raise your eyes towards the sky to see a few oiseaux (birds). If you do, you may even be able to identify some of the following species:
- Un aigle >> eagle
- Une colombe >> dove
- Un corbeau >> crow
- Un cygne >> swan
- Un faucon >> falcon
- Un hibou >> owl
- Un moineau >> sparrow
- Une mouette >> seagull
- Une perdrix >> partridge
- Une pie >> magpie
- Un pigeon >> pigeon
- Un pivert >> woodpecker
- Un rouge-gorge >> robin
- Un vautour >> vulture
7. Bonus: 12 French expressions containing animal vocabulary
Beyond the natural world, animals are often used in figurative turns of phrases, including for nicknames and insults in French. Here are 12 of the most common ones, with their literal translation and their actual meaning in English.
| French expressions | Literal translation | Actual meaning |
| Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter | To have other cats to whip | To have other fish to fry |
| Avoir la chair de poule | To have the hen flesh | To have goosebumps |
| Avoir du chien | To have some dog | To have charm |
| Être comme un poisson dans l’eau | To be like a fish in water | To be comfortable in a situation |
| Faire le singe | Do the monkey | To monkey around |
| Faire un froid de canard | To do a duck’s cold | To be freezing cold |
| Noyer le poisson | To drown the fish | To muddy the waters/cloud the issue |
| Passer du coq à l’âne | To go from the rooster to the donkey | To jump from one topic to another |
| Poser un lapin à quelqu’un | To put a rabbit to someone | To stand someone up |
| Quand les poules auront des dents | When hens have teeth | When pigs will fly |
| Quand on parle du loup | Speaking of the wolf | Speaking of the devil |
| Rire comme une baleine | To laugh like a whale | To roar with laughter |
Use our lists to extend your animal vocabulary in French
It’s time to use your mémoire d’éléphant (elephant’s memory) to learn a few words for animals in French. Our lists may not be exhaustive, but they do include all the more common animals, broken down according to their category or environment. Make your life easier by learning one list at a time and, once you feel confident you have fully memorized it, move to the next one.
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Anne-Lise is a translator and copywriter working for various industries, such as hospitality and travel, as well as health and well-being. Settled down in London since the end of her university years, she cannot get enough of the exceptional cultural life in the English capital city, starting with theater, be it to see a new West End show or to roll up her sleeves with her amateur drama group. She is also interested in photography, as her Instagram profile shows. She indulges her passion for languages in a translation blog she writes with other linguist friends. Go to her Linkedin page to know more about her background and her professional experience.
