Ever wonder how to talk about your pet in Chinese, or your favorite 动物 (dòng wù) – animal – in Chinese? Well, we’ve compiled a list of useful vocabulary for 28 animals you may want to express in Chinese!

Due to popular demand from our , we’ve also made another handy Yoyo Chinese Pocket Guide, for all of these animals! (Plus, it’s a great activity to keep busy during quarantine!)

Simply , print it out, and start cutting and folding into a mini book:

We also have this video tutorial to show you step by step how to make these pocket guides.

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Vocabulary

• 动物 (dòng wù)
• 猫 (māo)
• 狗 (gǒu)
• 鱼 (yú)
• 鸟 (niǎo)
• 牛 (niú)
• 马 (mǎ)
• 羊 (yáng)
• 猪 (zhū)
• 鸡 (jī)
• 兔子 (tù zi)
• 鸭子 (yā zi)
• 鹅 (é)
• 老鼠 (lǎo shǔ)
• 蛇 (shé)
• 狼 (láng)
• 狐狸 (hú li)
• 鹿 (lù)
• 熊 (xióng)
• 乌龟 (wū guī)
• 青蛙 (qīng wā)
• 考拉 (kǎo lā)
• 袋鼠 (dài shǔ)
• 熊猫 (xióng māo)
• 猴子 (hóu zi)
• 老虎 (lǎo hǔ)
• 狮子 (shī zi)
• 大象 (dà xiàng)
• 河马 (hé mǎ)

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Basic Measure Words for Most Animals

只 (zhī) is used for general animals, like:

• 一只狗 (yì zhī gǒu) – “a dog”
• 一只猫 (yì zhī māo) – “a cat”

头 (tóu) is used for livestock, such as:

• 一头猪 (yì tóu zhū) – “a pig”
• 一头牛 (yì tóu niú) – “a cow”

匹 (pǐ) is used for horses:

• 一匹马 (yī pǐ mǎ) – “a horse”

条 (tiáo) is used for those animals that are long and skinny, like:

• 一条鱼(yì tiáo yú) – “a fish”
• 一条蛇 (yì tiáo shé) – “a snake”

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Useful Sentences

• 我在家里养_狗。(wǒ zài jiā lǐ yǎng gǒu)
• 我有三只狗。(wǒ yǒu sān zhī gǒu)
• 我最喜欢的动物是__。(wǒ zuì xǐ huan de dòng wù shì __)
• 我喜欢去动物园看__。(wǒ xǐ huan qù dòng wù yuán kàn __)

We hope you enjoyed both this blog post and our ! 

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More Content for Learning Mandarin (Including Freebies!)

If you want to learn how to count in Chinese, be sure to check out from our :

Want to learn one of the most common measure words in Chinese? to check out the lesson. 

We also cover dogs and cats (and how to remember the Chinese names easily!) in from the course.

By the way… Did you know!? 

of our Beginner course is COMPLETELY free – including 45 lesson videos and all of the study tools that come with it, including flashcards, quizzes and more! 

It also serves as a complete pinyin and tones crash course, so you can start learning (or brush up on!) your Mandarin pronunciation!

Check out the first lesson :

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Have a question? Need help? Let us know in the comments below!