In this article, we’re going to look at the French words needed to talk about animals and pets in French. We’ll also discuss useful phrases for talking about your pets.

You have access to my personal flashcard set on Quizlet, where you can test yourself on the following vocabulary list. We present both the English-French and French-English word lists to help you master French pet vocabulary.

Masculine nouns below are in red, feminine nouns are in blue and any plurals are in green.

Related: How to increase my French Vocabulary.

PET AND ANIMAL FRENCH WORDS

Domestic Pets:

le chien – the dog
le chat – the cat
le lapin – the rabbit
le poisson rouge – the goldfish
les poissons – the fish
le serpent – the snake
le hamster – the hamster
le lézard – the lizard
la souris – the mouse
le rat – the rat
l’oiseau – the bird (m.) (les oiseaux = the birds)

Farm Animals:

la vache – the cow
la chèvre – the goat
le cheval – the horse
le coq – the rooster
la poule – the chicken
le cochon – the pig
l’âne – the donkey (m.)

Wild Animals:

le canard – the duck
l’oie – the goose (f.)
le cerf – the deer
la biche – the doe
le faucon – the hawk
l’aigle – the eagle (m.)
le tigre – the tiger
le lion – the lion
l’éléphant – the elephant (m.)
la girafe – the giraffe
le singe – the monkey
le gorille – the gorilla
le zèbre – the zebra
l’antilope – the antelope (f.)
le crocodile – the crocodile
le paresseaux – the sloth
le kangourou – the kangaroo

Insects:

la fourmi – the ant
l’araignée – the spider (f.)
le papillon – the butterfly
la mouche – the fly (housefly)
le moustique – the mosquito
le cafard – the cockroach
l’abeille – the bee (f.)
la guêpe – the wasp
la coccinelle – the ladybug

HELPFUL RELATED VOCABULARY

le / la vétérinaire – the veterinarian
une vaccination – a vaccination
les puces – fleas

la garde d’animaux – the pet-sitter
l’animalerie – the pet store

une cage – a cage
un panier – a basket
une gamelle – a bowl (where your pet eats from)
un bocal à poisson – a goldfish bowl
un collier – a collar
la laisse – the leash

la ferme – the farm
la grange – the barn

USEFUL PHRASES

Je peux amener mon chien ? – Can I bring my dog
Je peux caresser (ton/votre) chien ? – Can I pet your dog?
Mon chien ne mord pas – My dog doesn’t bite
J’ai peur des chiens – I’m afraid of dogs.
Où est le chat ? – Where is the cat?

Check out our vocabulary archive for more French vocabulary lists. Suggestions for future vocab lists can be submitted below.