Animal Names in Spanish – You Learn Spanish

Who does not such as animals? Even if you’ve never had a pet dog, you have actually probably viewed the odd documentary occasionally. Animals are a pretty global topic of discussion, and the following listings must prepare you for conversation with basically any type of animal lover.

Is It A Young boy Or A Girl? Animals As Well As Gender In Spanish
Before beginning with vocabulary, there’s a grammar point you ought to be aware of. Nouns in Spanish can be either womanly or masculine, and also this difference can commonly seem senseless to individuals that do not speak Spanish. As an example, a table (la mesa) is womanly, while a workdesk (el escritorio) is manly.

So, what occurs with animals? Most pet names have a female and also a male type, but not all do. For example, a cat can be el gato (masculine) or la gata (feminine), but a hamster will constantly be el hámster (manly).

View & Download PDF

It is important to recognize that grammatical gender as well as biological gender aren’t constantly equal.

The “default” gender in Spanish is usually the manly. For instance, when referring to a group of dogs, a Spanish speaker will certainly say los perros (masculine), no matter whether a lot of pet dogs because team are males or ladies.

That claimed, the womanly can often be used as the generic gender. When describing a team of turtles, Spanish chooses las tortugas (womanly) prior to los tortugos (masculine). You would just use the second one if you made certain all the turtles were men.

The adhering to checklists consist of the generic type for each and every animal, that is to state, the one you would certainly use if you really did not recognize the animal’s gender.

Las Mascotas (Pets)

Are you a feline or a canine person? Regardless of what side you base on, animals are usually a good place to start a discussion concerning animals. Right here are the names for some typical pets in Spanish:

El perro – Dog
El cachorro – Puppy
El gato – Cat
El hámster – Hamster
La cobaya – Guinea Pig
El pez – Fish
El pájaro – Bird
El perico – Parakeet
La tortuga – Turtle
La serpiente – Snake

Let’s see some of these in context:

Voy a pasear el perro. – I am going to walk the dog.
Mi gato es blanco. – My cat is white.
Esa tortuga no come lechuga. – That turtle doesn’t eat lettuce.

La Granja (The Farm)

Spending some time in the countryside? These animal names could can be found in handy:

El conejo – Rabbit
El pollito/El pollo – Chick/Chicken
La gallina – Hen
El gallo – Rooster
La vaca – Cow
El toro – Bull
La oveja – Sheep
El caballo – Horse
El cerdo/El puerco – Pig
La cabra – Goat
El burro – Donkey
El ratón – Mouse

You might use these words in the following phrases:

Vamos a ordeñar las vacas. – Let’s go milk the cows.
Me gusta montar a caballo. – I like to ride a horse.
Las ovejas comen pasto. – The sheep eat grass.

El Bosque (The Forest)

If the woodland is a lot more your thing, have a look at this listing of woodland pets:

El ciervo – Deer
El mapache – Raccoon
La ardilla – Squirrel
El búho – Owl
El zorro – Fox
El lobo – Wolf
El oso – Bear

You could mention them in phrases like these:

El búho está en el árbol. – The owl is in the tree.
La ardilla come nueces. – The squirrel eats nuts.
El oso duerme. – The bear sleeps.

El Océano (The Ocean)

Spending some time at the coastline? You might face several of these pets:

El cangrejo – Crab
La medusa/El aguaviva – Jellyfish
El delfín – Dolphin
La ballena – Whale
El tiburón – Shark
La foca – Seal
El lobo marino – Sea lion
La morsa – Walrus
El pingüino – Penguin

You might hear them in some of these phrases:

Hay muchas medusas. – There are lots of jellyfish.
¡Cuidado, un tiburón! – Look out, a shark!
Los lobos marinos comen pescado. – The sea lions eat fish.

En El Zoológico (At The Zoo)

Looking for some more exotic animals? Find them here:

El elefante – Elephant
El rinoceronte – Rhinoceros
El hipopótamo – Hippopotamus
El león – Lion
El tigre – Tiger
La jirafa – Giraffe
La cebra – Zebra
El mono – Monkey
El canguro – Kangaroo
El cocodrilo – Crocodile

Here are some of those words in context:

Los elefantes tienen buena memoria. – Elephants have good memory.
El león es el rey de la selva. – Lions are the kings of the jungle.
Los canguros viven en Australia. – Kangaroos live in Australia.

Bichos E Insectos (Bugs And Insects)

They could not be the first things you think of when you listen to words “pet”. For some, they might not also be something they intend to consider in any way. That said, insects and bugs are pretty much almost everywhere, so it’s an excellent suggestion to learn their names in Spanish:

La oruga – Caterpillar
La mariposa – Butterfly
La polilla – Moth
La mosca – Fly
La araña – Spider
La cucaracha – Cockroach
El caracol – Snail
El gusano – Worm

Once more, let’s see these words in context:

Las mariposas son coloridas. – Butterflies are colorful.
Las arañas me dan miedo. – Spiders scare me.
Hay un caracol en la planta. – There is a snail on the plant.