Animals in French

France is home to a great diversity of wildlife, including many creatures you might not expect - from brown bears (les ours bruns) in the Pyrenees to fire salamanders (les salamandres tachetées) in the Vosges. If we expand our scope to the Francophonie, we can also include pangolins (les pangolins), aardvarks (les oryctéropes) and ring-tailed lemurs (les makis cattas).

Of course, these are some of the species you're less likely to bring up in casual conversation. But knowing the words for a wide variety of animals is essential if you want to have a strong command of French vocabulary.

Fortunately, the words for many animals are similar, or sometimes even the same, in both French and English. It's important, however, that you learn the gender for each of the animals in French. To help with this, we've included the definite article alongside each one on the list below.

Les mammifères — mammals

• le chien — dog
• le chat — cat
• le cheval — horse
• la vache — cow
• le lion — lion
• le tigre — tiger
• l'éléphant — elephant
• le singe — monkey

Les oiseaux — birds

• l'oiseau — bird
• l'aigle — eagle
• le hibou — owl
• le perroquet — parrot
• le pigeon — pigeon
• le canard — duck
• la poule — hen

Les poissons — fish

• le saumon — salmon
• le thon — tuna
• la truite — trout
• la carpe — carp
• le requin — shark
• la sardine — sardine
• l'anguille — eel

Les reptiles — reptiles

• le serpent — snake
• le crocodile — crocodile
• l'alligator — alligator
• le lézard — lizard
• la tortue — tortoise/turtle
• le caméléon — chameleon

Les amphibiens — amphibians

• la grenouille — frog
• le crapaud — toad
• la salamandre — salamander
• le triton — newt
• la rainette — tree frog

Les marsupiaux — Marsupials

• le kangourou — kangaroo
• le koala — koala
• le wombat — wombat
• l'opossum — opossum
• le diable de Tasmanie — Tasmanian devil

Les insectes — Bugs

• la fourmi - ant
• l'abeille - bee
• le cafard - cockroach
• le papillon - butterfly
• la mouche - fly
• le moustique - mosquito
• le scarabée - beetle
• la coccinelle - ladybird
• le grillon - cricket
• la sauterelle - grasshopper
• la guêpe - wasp
• l'araignée - spider
• le mille-pattes - centipede/millipede

Quand on parle du loup [on en voit la queue] - Speak of the devil [and he shall appear]. (lit. speak of the wolf...)

Avoir le cafard - To feel depressed (lit. to have the cockroach)

Revenons à nos moutons - Let’s return to the subject. (Lit. let’s go back to our sheep).

Donner sa langue au chat - To give in (lit. to give your tongue to the cat)

On ne marie pas les poules avec les renards - Different strokes for different folks. (lit. one doesn't wed hens with foxes)

On n'a pas élevé les cochons ensemble - to not be friendly (lit. we didn't raise pigs together)