Animals in French: vocabulary list, pronunciation and a classroom routine

Animal vocabulary in French

In the pronunciation column, capitals mark the syllable to lean on slightly (French stress is light and falls on the last syllable). (n) marks a nasal vowel: air goes through the nose and the n itself is not pronounced. “zh” is the s in “measure”, “uh” is the short vowel in “the”, and “ü” is “ee” said with rounded lips.

Pets

Farm animals

Wild animals

Sea creatures, birds and minibeasts

Animal words are almost the same across the French-speaking world. Quebec has a few everyday words of its own: un maringouin (mosquito, un moustique in France) and, informally, une bibitte (a bug or creepy-crawly).

Gender: le chien, la chienne

1. Some animals have a masculine and a feminine form. le chien, la chienne; le lion, la lionne. The masculine is the default for the species: J’adore les chiens.
2. Some pairs use two different words. le taureau and la vache, le coq and la poule, le cheval and la jument (mare), le cochon and la truie (sow).
3. Many animals have one gender only. la girafe, la souris, la baleine, la tortue, le serpent, le requin. To specify the sex, add mâle or femelle: une girafe mâle.
4. L’ hides the gender. l’oiseau is masculine, l’abeille feminine. Teach these with un or une: un oiseau, une abeille, une araignée.
5. Le chat is the everyday word for any cat. The feminine la chatte exists, but it is also a vulgar slang word, which is one more reason to teach le chat as the default.

Plurals to watch

• -al becomes -aux: un cheval, des chevaux; un animal, des animaux.
• -eau takes x: un oiseau, des oiseaux; un taureau, des taureaux.
• Hibou is one of seven -ou nouns that take x: des hiboux, like des genoux and des poux (lice).

Pronunciation for English speakers

• Silent final consonants: chat, loup, renard, escargot, canard. But l’ours and le coq sound their last letter.
• poisson or poison? Le poisson (fish) has a hissing ss; le poison has a buzzing z. A single s between two vowels always sounds like z: l’oiseau.
• Liaison: les oiseaux is “lay-zwa-ZOH”, les éléphants is “lay-zay-lay-FAH(N)”. The s wakes up before a vowel.
• Aspirated h, no liaison: le hamster, le hibou, le hérisson keep le, and there is no liaison in les hiboux (lay-ee-BOO). The h is still silent.
• The French u: la tortue. Say “ee” and round your lips; “tor-TOO” is a different vowel.

Useful phrases and idioms

Tu as un animal ?Have you got a pet?

J’ai un chien qui s’appelle Max.I’ve got a dog called Max.

Mon animal préféré, c’est le dauphin, parce qu’il est intelligent.My favourite animal is the dolphin because it’s clever.

J’ai peur des araignées.I’m scared of spiders.

“Pet” is un animal de compagnie, or simply un animal in conversation. After a negative, un becomes de: Je n’ai pas de chat, pas d’animal.

Animal noises are a KS2 favourite: le chien fait ouaf, le chat fait miaou, la vache fait meuh, le coq fait cocorico, le canard fait coin-coin.

Common idioms

Donner sa langue au chat is perfect for riddles: when the class gives up, they say On donne notre langue au chat !

Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners

• Learning l’oiseau without its gender, then writing “la oiseau”.
• “Des chevals”, “des animals”: it is des chevaux, des animaux.
• Poisson said with a z, which turns fish into poison.
• “L’hamster”: it is le hamster.
• “Je n’ai pas un chien”: after a negative, pas de.
• Animal legs: animals have des pattes, not des jambes: Une araignée a huit pattes.

In class: animals as a word of the day

1. Show the picture and the English word: “hedgehog”.
2. Ask Comment dit-on “hedgehog” en français ? Pupils whisper a guess to a partner or write it on a mini whiteboard.
3. Reveal le hérisson with its pronunciation. The class repeats it together, then two or three pupils alone. Point out le, not l’.
4. Show the example sentence: Le hérisson dort pendant l’hiver.
5. Give the reuse task: pupils describe the animal with il est and il a: Il est petit et il a des piquants.
6. Recall yesterday’s animal: Comment dit-on “owl” ?

That is exactly what a daily routine does: one word, seen, heard, said and reused, then brought back the next day.

Riddles and games

Qui suis-je ? riddles turn known words into a listening task: Je suis grand et gris, j’ai une trompe et de grandes oreilles. Qui suis-je ? (l’éléphant). From A2, pupils write their own riddle with je suis, j’ai, j’habite and je mange.

• A1Name the animal with its article and a colour: C’est un chat noir.
• A2Pets and descriptions: J’ai un chien. Il s’appelle Max et il est très mignon.
• B1Comparisons and habitats: Le guépard est plus rapide que le lion. Il vit dans la savane.
• B2Opinions and idioms: Il faut que nous protégions les baleines. Il a une faim de loup !

At KS2, animal noises and a mime game are enough. At KS3, insist on un / une and the plurals in -aux. At GCSE, animals return through the environment: move on to comparisons and opinions.

Frequently asked questions