What Are Pets Called in French?

What are pets called in French? Watch the video as many times as you need, until you feel you can give the French as we go!

OK, now we can see what we’ve learned. Look at the English and guess the French word! We’ll take them in groups of five.

Part 1:

bird	Show un oiseau
budgerigar	Show la perruche
cat	Show le chat
dog	Show le chien
gerbil	Show la gerbille

Part 2:

goldfish	Show le poisson rouge
guinea pig	Show le cobaye
hamster	Show le hamster
horse	Show le cheval
kitten	Show le chaton

Part 3:

lizard	Show le lézard
mouse	Show la souris
parrot	Show le perroquet
pet	Show un animal de compagnie
puppy	Show le chiot

Part 4:

rabbit	Show le lapin
rat	Show le rat
snake	Show le serpent
spider	Show une araignée
tortoise	Show la tortue

Irregular Plurals

Plurals ending in -x

There are a couple of irregular plurals to note in this list.

Nouns ending in –au, -eu or -eau add a final -x :

un oiseau > les oiseaux

Nouns ending in -al become -aux:

le cheval > les chevaux, un animal de compagnie > les animaux de compagnie

Nouns ending in -s, -x, -z

Nouns ending in -s (as well as -x or -z) do not add an ending:

la souris > les souris

Sentence Builder: Talking About Pets

Avez-vous des animaux de compagnie?
Do you have any pets?

J’ai… I have	un chien a dog un chat a cat	chez moi at my place, at home
Nous avons… We have…	un chien a dog un chat a cat	chez nous at ours, at our place, at home
Nous n’avons pas… We do not have…	d’animaux domestiques any pets	chez nous at ours, at our place, at home

Il a… He has… Elle a… She has…	un chien a dog un chat a cat des lapins rabbits	chez lui at his place, at home chez elle at her place, at home
Ils ont… They have… Elles ont… They have… (f)	des lapins rabbits trois lapins three rabbits des chats cats deux chevaux two horses	chez eux at their place, at home chez elles at their place, at home (f)

Note that in the plural, we say ‘elle a des lapins.’ This means ‘she has some rabbits.’ ‘Some’ can be left out in English, but not in French.

Are you ready to see what you’ve learned?

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