Fond of pets ? In French, they are called animaux domestiques, which could be translated as "animals living at home".

In France, most of the pets are either dogs or cats.

Spelling is different depending of the pet's gender. The following table gives you the French words for the most common pets.

Pet Animal
Male Female
a dog un chien Audio. Press to listen! une chienne Audio. Press to listen!
a cat un chat Audio. Press to listen! une chatte Audio. Press to listen!
a rat un rat une rate
a hamster un hamster (*)
a goldfish un poisson rouge (*)
a parrot un perroquet (*)

(*) For some animals, French make no difference beetween male and female!

  • J'ai promené le chien. (promener, 1st gr verb) I've taken the dog out for a walk.
  • Je caresse le chat. (caresser, 1st gr verb) I'm stroking the cat.
  • Tu nourris les poissons rouges. (nourrrir, 2nd gr verb) You're feeding goldfishes.