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French vocabulary list about animals: les animaux

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Learning animals names in French language is a great asset in terms of vocabulary. Whether you want to talk about your favorite animal, the pets you own or even develop your understanding of documentaries related to the wild world, this will come in handy.

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In this lesson, I will share with you a useful vocabulary list of animals in French with their English translation, all names classified depending on the category they belong to.

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This lesson gives you the vocabulary necessary to memorize animals names in French, but if you want to develop your French vocabulary and listening skills in a fun way,  Lingopie might work well for you. I love the way, you can learning a lot by simply watching your favorite movies and TV shows. What I like the most is the possibility to read the script in my target language and click on the words I don't know and learn them. I use it for English and this helps me improve my vocabulary and listening skills, especially with the flashcards features that I can use to review the new words. If you're interested, you can take the 7-day free trial. I am sure you would like too. And if you are lucky that their  promo is still on, you might get 70% off.

1. Les animaux de compagnie / animaux domestiques:  pets

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The French word for a pet is un animal de compagnie or un animal domestique.. In the plural, it becomes des animaux de compagnie ou domestiques.

Here is a list of common pets that you can find in people's house. 

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  • Le chien => dog

  • Le chat => cat

  • La souris =>mouse

  • Le hamster =>hamster

  • La tortue => tortue

  • Le Lapin => rabbit

  • Le perroquet => parrot

  • Le poisson rouge => goldfish

2. Les animaux de la ferme:  farm animals

 

These are the names  of animals that you can find in a regular French farm.

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  • La poule =>hen

  • Le coq => rooster

  • Le mouton => sheep

  • La chèvre => goat

  • La vache => cow

  • Le canard => duck

  • Le cochon => pig

  • La dinde => turkey

  • Le cheval => horse

  • L’âne => donkey

3. Les animaux sauvages: wild animals

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Wild animals can be found in the forest, in nature, zoos, or observed in safaris.

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Below is a list of the animals categorized as wild animals.

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  • L'oiseau => bird

  • Le hibou => owl

  • Le lion => lion

  • Le tigre => Tiger

  • L éléphant => éléphant

  • La girafe => giraffe

  • Le léopard => leopard

  • Le guépard => cheetah

  • L'hippopotame => hippopotamus

  • Le rhinocéros => rhinoceros

  • Le chameau => Camel

  • l'ours => bear

  • La hyène => hyena

  • Le lièvre => hare

  • le singe => monkey

  • Le gorille => gorilla

  • Le chimpanzé => chimpanzee

  • Le zèbre => zébra

  • L'antilope => antelope

  • Le cerf => deer

  • L'écureuil => squirrel

  • Le loup => wolf

  • Le renard => fox

Wild animals French-min.jpg

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4. Sea animals : les animaux marins

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The equivalent English to French translation of sea animals is les animaux marins or les animaux aquatiques for water animals.

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  • Le poisson => fish

  • La baleine => whale

  • Le requin => shark

  • Le dauphin => daulphin

  • La crevette => shrimp

  • Le homard => lobster

  • Le crabe => crab

  • L étoile de mer => Starfish

  • La méduse => Jellyfish

  • L'anguille(f) => eel 

  • l'hippocampe => sea horse

  • la pieuvre => octopus

  • le calamar => squid

  • le phoque => seal

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5. Reptiles : les reptiles 

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  • Le serpent => snake

  • Le lézard => lizard

  • Le crapaud => toad

  • La grenouille => frog

  • La tortue => turtle

  • Le crocodile => crocodile

  • Le caméléon => chameleon

6. Les insectes: insects

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  • L'araignée => spider

  • La mouche => fly

  • La fourmi => ant

  • Le criquet => cricket, locust

  • La mante religieuse => praying mantis

  • L’abeille => bee

  • La guêpe => wasp

  • Le papillon => butterfly

  • Le moustique => mosquito

  • Le cafard => cockroach

  • La coccinelle => ladybug

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7. Quiz to practice your French animal vocabulary

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Here is a practice exercise for you to check your knowledge about animals in French  language. Take the quiz below  and happy learning !

For more exercises, check out this language learning directory My language learning hub

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If you are considering taking classes, we recommend Lingoda for online group classes or private classes. Their classes are affordable (10 to 12 euros per one hour group class), well structured according to CEFR guidelines, with a communicative approach that gets you quickly comfortable speaking. You can join their next challenge, the Lingoda Sprint. If you commit to taking 1 class a day for 2 months (60 classes), without missing any class, you get 100% cashback. and if you choose to take a class every two days (30 classes), you will get 50% cashback.

This is a great way to accelerate your learning with intensive classes. However, this is not for everyone. If you can't commit daily, you better join their regular classes. that you can try for free here.

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Related lessons

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Colors in French

House vocabulary

Verb avoir (to have)

French

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