Animals in German: Names, Plurals, Sounds and Idioms

The most common animals in German are der Hund (dog), die Katze (cat), das Pferd (horse), die Kuh (cow), das Schwein (pig), der Vogel (bird) and der Fisch (fish). The word for animal is das Tier (plural die Tiere). Every animal name has its own gender and plural, so learn them together: der Hund, die Hunde.

Below you'll find pets, farm animals, wild animals, zoo animals and insects, each with its article and plural, plus male and female forms, what animals "say" in German and the animal idioms Germans love.

Pets in German: Haustiere

A pet is das Haustier, literally a "house animal". These are the ones you'll talk about most:

German	Plural	English
der Hund	die Hunde	dog
die Katze	die Katzen	cat
das Kaninchen	die Kaninchen	rabbit
der Hamster	die Hamster	hamster
das Meerschweinchen	die Meerschweinchen	guinea pig
der Wellensittich	die Wellensittiche	budgie, parakeet
der Vogel	die Vögel	bird
der Fisch	die Fische	fish

Hast du ein Haustier? — Do you have a pet?
Ja, ich habe einen Hund und zwei Katzen. — Yes, I have a dog and two cats.
Ich gehe mit dem Hund Gassi. — I'm taking the dog for a walk.

Kaninchen or Hase? Strictly speaking, das Kaninchen is a rabbit and der Hase is a hare. In everyday German, though, many people call rabbits Hasen too, and the Easter Bunny is der Osterhase.
Das Meerschweinchen (guinea pig) is literally a "little sea pig".
Gassi gehen is the everyday phrase for walking the dog, and you'll hear it from dog owners all the time.

Farm Animals: Tiere auf dem Bauernhof

German	Plural	English
die Kuh	die Kühe	cow
das Schwein	die Schweine	pig
das Pferd	die Pferde	horse
das Schaf	die Schafe	sheep
die Ziege	die Ziegen	goat
das Huhn	die Hühner	chicken, hen
der Hahn	die Hähne	rooster
die Ente	die Enten	duck
die Gans	die Gänse	goose
der Esel	die Esel	donkey

Die Kühe stehen auf der Weide. — The cows are out in the pasture.
Unsere Hühner legen jeden Tag Eier. — Our hens lay eggs every day.

Look at the plurals in the first two tables and you'll see the main patterns. Most masculine and neuter animals add -e (Hunde, Fische, Schafe), feminine ones add -(e)n (Katzen, Ziegen, Enten), words ending in -chen, -el or -er don't add an ending (Kaninchen, Esel, Hamster), and many add an umlaut on top (Kühe, Gänse, Vögel, Hühner). Our guide to German plural rules explains all five patterns.

On a menu, the meat usually has its own word: das Schweinefleisch (pork), das Rindfleisch (beef, from das Rind, cattle) and das Hähnchen (chicken).

Wild Animals: Tiere im Wald

These are the animals you might spot in a German forest (der Wald), or even in a city park:

German	Plural	English
der Bär	die Bären	bear
der Wolf	die Wölfe	wolf
der Fuchs	die Füchse	fox
das Reh	die Rehe	roe deer
der Hirsch	die Hirsche	deer, stag
das Wildschwein	die Wildschweine	wild boar
der Igel	die Igel	hedgehog
das Eichhörnchen	die Eichhörnchen	squirrel
die Maus	die Mäuse	mouse
die Eule	die Eulen	owl

Reh or Hirsch? English "deer" covers both, but German doesn't. Das Reh is the small roe deer, and der Hirsch is the much bigger red deer, famous for the male's huge antlers. And no, a Reh isn't a female Hirsch: they're two different species, a mix-up even many Germans make.

Im Garten wohnt ein Igel. — A hedgehog lives in the garden.
Das Eichhörnchen sammelt Nüsse. — The squirrel is collecting nuts.

Zoo Animals: Tiere im Zoo

German	Plural	English
der Löwe	die Löwen	lion
der Tiger	die Tiger	tiger
der Elefant	die Elefanten	elephant
die Giraffe	die Giraffen	giraffe
der Affe	die Affen	monkey, ape
das Zebra	die Zebras	zebra
der Eisbär	die Eisbären	polar bear
der Pinguin	die Pinguine	penguin
die Schlange	die Schlangen	snake

Watch out for weak nouns. Der Löwe, der Affe, der Elefant and der Bär add -(e)n in every case except the nominative singular:

Im Zoo haben wir einen Elefanten gesehen. — We saw an elephant at the zoo.
Das Kind hat Angst vor dem Löwen. — The child is afraid of the lion.

Two fun ones: der Eisbär is literally an "ice bear", and die Schlange also means a line of people: Wir müssen Schlange stehen. — We have to stand in line.

Insects and Spiders

The general word is das Insekt (plural die Insekten).

German	Plural	English
die Biene	die Bienen	bee
die Wespe	die Wespen	wasp
die Fliege	die Fliegen	fly
die Mücke	die Mücken	mosquito
die Ameise	die Ameisen	ant
der Schmetterling	die Schmetterlinge	butterfly
der Marienkäfer	die Marienkäfer	ladybug, ladybird
die Spinne	die Spinnen	spider

The -e clue: most of these end in -e, a very common feminine ending, so they're die: die Biene, die Fliege, die Spinne.
Mosquitoes sting in German: Mich hat eine Mücke gestochen. — A mosquito bit me. Germans normally say stechen (to sting), not beißen (to bite).
Making a fuss? Mach doch nicht aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten! — Don't make a mountain out of a molehill! (Literally: don't make an elephant out of a mosquito.)

Male, Female and Baby Animals

Normally, one word covers every animal of a kind: any cat is die Katze, any giraffe die Giraffe, any dog der Hund. The article tells you nothing about the animal's sex. For pets and farm animals, though, German has extra words:

Animal	Male	Female	Young
dog	der Hund (der Rüde)	die Hündin	der Welpe
cat	der Kater	die Katze	das Kätzchen
cattle (das Rind)	der Stier / der Bulle	die Kuh	das Kalb
horse	der Hengst	die Stute	das Fohlen
pig	der Eber	die Sau	das Ferkel
chicken	der Hahn	die Henne	das Küken

Dogs: in everyday German, a male dog is simply der Hund. Der Rüde is the term vets and breeders use.
Cats: die Katze is any cat and also a female one. Unser Kater heißt Felix. — Our tomcat is called Felix.
-in for females: many animals add -in, often with an umlaut: der Löwe – die Löwin, der Wolf – die Wölfin, der Fuchs – die Füchsin, der Bär – die Bärin. The plural ends in -innen: die Hündinnen.
Babies: many baby animals are neuter, like das Kind: das Kalb, das Fohlen, das Ferkel, das Küken. The exception here is der Welpe (puppy).

Diminutives: Kätzchen, Hündchen and Co.

Add -chen (or the more literary -lein) to an animal, usually with an umlaut, and you get a small or cute version. The result is always neuter, whatever the original gender. It's one of the few German gender rules with no exceptions, and our guide to der, die, das rules has more clues like it.

die Katze → das Kätzchen (kitten)
der Hund → das Hündchen (little dog, doggy)
die Maus → das Mäuschen (little mouse)
der Bär → das Bärchen (little bear, as in Gummibärchen, gummy bears)
die Ente → das Entlein (duckling, as in Das hässliche Entlein, The Ugly Duckling)

The plural doesn't change: ein Kätzchen, zwei Kätzchen. Some everyday animal names are -chen words too, so they're always neuter: das Kaninchen, das Eichhörnchen, das Meerschweinchen. Germans even use them as pet names for people: Mäuschen, Häschen and Bärchen are classic terms of endearment.

Animal Sounds in German

Animals don't speak German, but Germans hear them a little differently:

Animal	German	English	Verb
der Hund	wau wau	woof woof	bellen
die Katze	miau	meow	miauen
die Kuh	muh	moo	muhen
der Hahn	kikeriki	cock-a-doodle-doo	krähen
das Schaf	mäh	baa	blöken
die Ziege	meck meck	maa	meckern
das Schwein	grunz grunz	oink oink	grunzen
die Ente	quak quak	quack quack	quaken
der Vogel	piep piep	tweet tweet	zwitschern
die Biene	summ summ	buzz	summen

Der Hund bellt die ganze Nacht. — The dog barks all night.
Der Hahn kräht jeden Morgen um fünf. — The rooster crows every morning at five.

Meckern has a second meaning you'll hear a lot: to grumble. Hör auf zu meckern! — Stop moaning!

German Animal Idioms

Idiom	Literally	Meaning
Schwein haben	to have pig	to be lucky
einen Kater haben	to have a tomcat	to have a hangover
die Katze im Sack kaufen	to buy the cat in the sack	to buy something without seeing it first (a pig in a poke)
Da steppt der Bär.	The bear tap-dances there.	That's where the party is.
Ich glaub, mein Schwein pfeift!	I think my pig is whistling!	I don't believe it! Are you kidding me?
mit den Hühnern ins Bett gehen	to go to bed with the chickens	to go to bed very early

Der Zug hatte Verspätung, also habe ich ihn noch erreicht. Schwein gehabt! — The train was late, so I still caught it. Lucky me!
Nach der Party hatte ich einen Kater. — After the party I had a hangover.
Ich will die Wohnung erst sehen. Ich kaufe doch nicht die Katze im Sack! — I want to see the apartment first. I'm not buying it sight unseen!
Komm am Samstag mit, da steppt der Bär! — Come along on Saturday, it's going to be a great party!
Du hast mein Fahrrad verkauft? Ich glaub, mein Schwein pfeift! — You sold my bike? You've got to be kidding me!
Mein Opa geht immer mit den Hühnern ins Bett. — My grandpa always goes to bed really early.

Pigs really are lucky in Germany: at New Year, people give each other little marzipan pigs as good-luck charms. And Ich habe einen Kater can mean "I have a tomcat" or "I have a hangover", so context decides.

Three more you'll hear: einen Vogel haben (to be nuts, literally "to have a bird"), Da liegt der Hund begraben (that's the heart of the problem, literally "that's where the dog is buried") and the very casual keinen Bock haben (to not feel like it, literally "to have no billy goat"). For more, see our collection of funny German idioms and what they mean.

Common Mistakes With Animals

Instead of	Say	Why
Ich habe ein Hund.	Ich habe einen Hund.	Haben takes the accusative, so masculine ein becomes einen.
Ich sehe den Bär.	Ich sehe den Bären.	In standard German, Bär, Löwe, Affe and Elefant are weak nouns and add -(e)n.
die Kätzchen (one kitten)	das Kätzchen	Nouns ending in -chen are always neuter.
zwei Schaf, zwei Fisch	zwei Schafe, zwei Fische	Unlike English "sheep" and "fish", the German words have plural forms.
Wo ist die Katze? – Er ist im Garten.	Wo ist die Katze? – Sie ist im Garten.	The pronoun follows the noun's gender, not the animal's sex.

Practice: Animals in German

Name the animals you see every day, always with the article: the neighbor's dog, the pigeons in the square (die Tauben), the bee on your balcony. Then try these:

der Hund, zwei ___
die Maus, zwei ___
___ Kätzchen (der, die or das?)
Ich habe ___ Hund. (ein)
A female dog is ___.
What does a German rooster say?
What does Schwein gehabt! mean?

Answers:

zwei Hunde
zwei Mäuse
das Kätzchen
Ich habe einen Hund.
die Hündin
Kikeriki!
Lucky me! / That was lucky!

Then test yourself in our A1 German quiz.

FAQ

How do you say "dog" in German?

Der Hund, plural die Hunde. A female dog is die Hündin, and a puppy is der Welpe.

What is the German word for "animal"?

Das Tier, plural die Tiere. A pet is das Haustier.

Why is it "das Kätzchen" if cat is "die Katze"?

The ending -chen makes every noun neuter, whatever its original gender. The same goes for das Hündchen and das Mäuschen.

What does "Schwein haben" mean?

It means to be lucky. Schwein gehabt! — That was lucky!

What sound does a dog make in German?

Wau wau. The verb is bellen: Der Hund bellt. — The dog barks.