Spanish Animal Vocabulary

Learn animal names in Spanish with audio pronunciation.

Words36
Categories3
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Pets and domestic

el perro

dog

el gato

cat

el pez

fish

el pájaro

bird

el conejo

rabbit

la tortuga

turtle

el hámster

hamster

el loro

parrot

Farm animals

la vaca

cow

el caballo

horse

el cerdo

pig

la gallina

hen

la oveja

sheep

el burro

donkey

la cabra

goat

el toro

bull

el pato

duck

el gallo

rooster

la abeja

bee

la hormiga

ant

Wild animals

el león

lion

el oso

bear

el mono

monkey

la serpiente

snake

el elefante

elephant

la mariposa

butterfly

el lobo

wolf

el tiburón

shark

el águila

eagle

el delfín

dolphin

la ballena

whale

la rana

frog

Animal gender

Many animals have separate masculine and feminine forms: el perro/la perra, el gato/la gata. Some use the same word for both: la serpiente, la tortuga, el pez. El águila is feminine but uses el because it starts with stressed a.

Quiz: Animals in Spanish

1. What does 'perro' mean?

2. How do you say 'cat' in Spanish?

3. What animal is 'caballo'?

4. How do you say 'bird' in Spanish?

5. What does 'tortuga' mean?

6. How do you say 'fish' in Spanish?

7. What animal is 'mariposa'?

8. How do you say 'cow' in Spanish?

9. What does 'oso' mean?

10. How do you say 'rabbit' in Spanish?

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Animals in Spanish culture

Animals play a big role in Spanish idioms and expressions. Tener mono means to crave something, ser un buitre means to be a vulture (greedy person), and estar como una cabra means to be crazy (literally like a goat). Learning animal vocabulary unlocks a whole layer of colloquial Spanish.

Pets in Spanish-speaking countries

Pet culture varies across the Spanish-speaking world. Spain has among the highest pet ownership rates in Europe. The word mascota (pet) comes from the French mascotte. In Latin America, street dogs (perros callejeros) are common and some countries have large-scale adoption programs.

Farm and food connection

Many farm animal words connect to food vocabulary. Cerdo (pig) gives us carne de cerdo (pork). Vaca (cow) gives us carne de vaca (beef) in some countries, though res is also used. Pollo (chicken as food) comes from the same root as gallina (hen) and gallo (rooster).