Let’s learn to say animals in Vietnamese. Here are the most common words:
| dog | (con) chó |
| cat | (con) mèo |
| bird | (con) chim |
| duck | (con) vịt |
| fish | (con) cá |
| elephant | (con) voi |
| cow | (con) bò |
| chicken | (con) gà |
| pig | (con) heo |
| horse | (con) ngựa |
| snake | (con) rắn |
| bear | (con) gấu |
| monkey | (con) khỉ |
| crab | (con) cua |
| shrimp | (con) tôm |
| mouse | (con) chuột |
| squirrel | (con) sóc |
| butterfly | (con) bướm |
| dragonfly | (con) chuồn chuồn |
| rabbit | (con) thỏ |
| turtle | (con) rùa |
| deer | (con) hưu |
| tiger | (con) hổ |
| lion | (con) sư tử |
| fox | (con) cáo |
| frog | (con) ếch |
| ant | (con) kiến |
| parrot | (con) vẹt |
| donkey | (con) lừa |
| spider | (con) nhện |
| swan | (con) thiên nga |
When talking about animals in general, it is ok to use the above words without “con.” When you want to talk about individual animal, you can include “con.” In Vietnamese, words do not change form for plural.
For example:
- He hates bears. Anh ấy không thích gấu.
- There’s a dog on the other side of the street. Có con chó bên kia đường.
To say a specific type of certain animal, we identify the animal first then we identify the type. For example, to say “gold fish” in Vietnamese, we first identify that it is a fish, we say “cá” then we identify the type and add “vàng.” In other words, “gold fish” is called “cá vàng” in Vietnamese.
Applying what we have just learned, you may find the following words a bit easier to remember:
| gold fish | cá vàng |
| whale | cá voi |
| dolphin | cá heo |
| shark | cá mập |
| salmon | cá hồi |
| penguin | chim cánh cụt |
| eagle | chim đại bàng |
| zebra | ngựa vằn |
| fire ant | kiến lửa |
| panda | gấu trúc |
| kitten | mèo con |
| puppy | chó con |
However, there are always exceptions. For example, crocodile is called “cá sấu” in Vietnamese even though it is a reptile and not a fish.