Cat, Dog, Horse: Animal Words in 50+ Languages

Cat is gato in Spanish, γάτα in Greek, 고양이 in Korean and pusa in Tagalog. Dog is perro in Spanish, собака in Russian and كلب in Arabic, and bird is Vogel in German, kuş in Turkish and পাখি in Bengali. Below are nine animal words, from cat and dog to bear and fly, across 52 languages besides English and more than a dozen scripts.

Every word comes from real usage data, not a phrasebook, and each section links to the full list on our free Say it in any language tool.

#Where these words come from

Each /tools/say page lists an English word in up to 53 languages. The words are ranked by how often they appear in film and TV subtitles (the OpenSubtitles 2018 frequency lists) and matched to English through Wiktionary, so every page shows where the word ranks in its language.

Two things to know:

• Frequency lists count spellings, not meanings. If a word for “fish” is spelled like an everyday verb, it ranks very high for the wrong reason. We only print rows whose meaning matches, and we say where a page’s “most common” claim is one of these.
• The lists are lowercase and keep the form people used. We capitalize German nouns (Hund, Pferd). Some rows are plurals or case forms, and we mark those.

A high count doesn’t mean every row is the animal. The bear and fly pages are long because “to bear” and “to fly” are common verbs.

#Cat in different languages

Tagalog pusa (#468) and Korean 고양이 (#563) are the most common matches we’re sure of. Tamil பில்லி tops the page at #363, but the data also glosses பூனை as Tamil for “cat” (it turns up on the animal page, at #886), so ask a Tamil speaker which one you’ll hear. The Telugu row, పిల్లులు, is a plural: “cats”.

One family of words runs across Europe and beyond: Afrikaans kat, Norwegian katt, German Katze, Esperanto kato, Basque katu, Icelandic köttur, Lithuanian katė and Armenian կատու all sound alike. Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian all say mačka, and Macedonian мачка is the same word in Cyrillic.

See “cat” in all 43 languages →

#Dog in different languages

Dog is the one animal in all 53 languages, and it ranks higher than cat in 42 of the 43 languages that have both; the exception is Tamil, whose cat row is the doubtful பில்லி. Tagalog aso (#223) and Telugu కుక్క (#229) lead, with Korean 개 at #340. Arabic كلب and Hebrew כלב are the same old Semitic word, and Polish pies, Czech pes and Serbian pas are one Slavic word.

Watch three rows on the full page. Chinese 狗屎 means “dog shit”, and Hindi कुतिया and Icelandic tík mean a female dog, which is also an insult, like the English row. Georgian ძაღლები is a plural, “dogs”.

See “dog” in all 53 languages →

#Bird in different languages

If you searched for “bird in different languages”, this is the page with the most false matches. Its Hebrew row, בחורה, means “girl” (the way British English says “bird”), its French and Romanian rows are martin, which is also a name, and its Korean row, 탄, is glossed “a bird net”, far too rare a thing to explain its rank. The Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian rows are tiče, which is spelled like the everyday verb in “što se tiče” (as for), so we left it out too.

Among real matches, Telugu పక్షులు (#384, a plural: “birds”) and Malay burung (#553) are the most common. Malayalam പക്ഷി, Telugu పక్షులు and Hindi पक्षियों are one word in three scripts, and Persian پرنده and Urdu پرندہ are one word too. Spanish and Portuguese have no row on this page.

See “bird” in all 39 languages →

#Horse in different languages

Afrikaans perd (#501) and Urdu گھوڑے (#519) lead. Urdu گھوڑے and Hindi घोड़े are an inflected form (a plural, or the form used before a postposition) of the word Bengali lists as ঘোড়া. Tagalog kabayo comes from Spanish caballo, and Malayalam കുതിര and Tamil குதிரை are one word in two scripts.

Many rows are the form you’d use after a verb, as in “I saw a horse”: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian konja, Czech koně, Polish konia, Ukrainian коня and Slovak koňa. Norwegian hesten is “the horse”. The page’s top row, Greek αμάξι (#382), is glossed “horse carriage”, but in Greek today it is the everyday word for a car, so we left it out.

See “horse” in all 49 languages →

#Fish in different languages

For “fish in every language”, start with Georgian თევზი (#343): it is the most common real match. Three rows rank higher but are false matches. Malay and Indonesian berikan (#224 and #258) mean “give”, and Telugu మార్పు (#481) is the everyday word for “change”. Further down, Estonian kohas is glossed as a kind of fish (zander) and Vietnamese lờ as a bamboo fish trap.

The Spanish row is pescado, which the data glosses as fish meant for eating. Hindi मछली and Urdu مچھلی are one word, and Korean 물고기 is built from 물 (water) and 고기 (meat). Malayalam has two words: the formal മത്സ്യം (#1220) and മീൻ (#508), which shows up on the animal page glossed “commonly just fish”. Tamil மீன் is the same word as മീൻ.

See “fish” in all 45 languages →

#Pig in different languages

Malayalam പന്നി (#564) is the most common real match, and Tamil பன்றி is its close cousin. The page’s top row, Danish galt (#286), is glossed “a castrated male pig”, but it is spelled like the everyday Danish word for “wrong”, which explains the rank. The Dutch row is big, which means a piglet, not “big”.

Arabic خنزير and Hebrew חזיר are one Semitic word, and German Schwein, Swedish svin and Serbian svinja sound alike.

See “pig” in all 39 languages →

#Bear in different languages

The bear page has 46 rows, but 25 of them are the verb: German tragen (to carry), Spanish soportar (to put up with), Chinese 忍受 (to endure) and so on. Arabic تذكر, the highest row at #376, means “to bear in mind”. Hungarian bocs (#520) is glossed “bear cub”, but it is also a short, very common way to say “sorry”.

Among real bears, Telugu ఎలుగుబంటి (#316) leads. Slovak medveď and Slovenian medved mean something like “honey eater” in old Slavic. Hindi भालू and Bengali ভালুক are one word, as are Tamil கரடி and Malayalam കരടി.

See “bear” in all 46 languages →

#Animal in different languages

Tagalog hayop (#243) is the most common. Arabic حيوان and Turkish hayvan are one word, and so are Hindi जानवर and Urdu جانور. As with flowers in our nature words post, many European rows are plurals: animales, animali, Dutch dieren, Polish zwierzęta.

This page collects words that only touch “animal”. Korean 새끼 (#482) is glossed “young animal” but is mostly heard as an insult, and Chinese 畜生 means “brute”. Malayalam മീൻ is fish, Tamil பூனை is cat, Vietnamese thịt is meat, French peau is skin and Swedish käften is an animal’s jaw, as in “shut your mouth”. We left all of those out of the table.

See “animal” in all 44 languages →

#Fly (the insect) in different languages

The fly page has 44 rows, and most of them are the verb: Spanish vuelo, German fliegen, Indonesian terbang. Only about ten rows are the insect, and these eight are the clearest. Tamil ஈ is a whole word written with one letter. Korean 파리 is also how Korean writes Paris, and Bengali মাছি looks a lot like মাছ, fish. Hungarian legyek is glossed “fly” but is also a form of “to be”, so its rank says little about flies.

See “fly” in all 44 languages →

Other animals, such as cow, wolf, lion, snake or mouse, don’t have a page on the tool yet. For dragon-adjacent words like monster, see fantasy words in different languages.

#Mix-ups to watch for

Frequency data is honest about what people say, but it can’t tell a fish from a verb that looks the same. The ones worth knowing:

• Give, change and wrong. Malay and Indonesian berikan (fish page), Telugu మార్పు (fish page) and Danish galt (pig page) rank high because of their other meaning.
• A girl and a name. Hebrew בחורה (girl) and French and Romanian martin sit on the bird page.
• A car, not a horse. Greek αμάξι is glossed “horse carriage”, but it means car today.
• Insults. Hindi कुतिया, Icelandic tík and Korean 새끼 appear because people swear in films.
• Verbs. Most rows on the bear and fly pages mean “to bear” and “to fly”.
• Plurals and case forms. Telugu పిల్లులు (cats), Georgian ძაღლები (dogs), Serbian konja and Norwegian hesten are not the dictionary form.

If you’re reading a new script to check a word like this, the Tamil, Telugu, Georgian and Korean alphabet pages show every letter.

#Learn animal words by talking about pets

Animal words stick when they belong to a real animal: your cat, your neighbor’s dog, the birds outside. Pets are one of the easiest language exchange conversation topics, because almost everyone has a pet story.

• Introduce your pet. Its name, what kind of animal it is, what it eats and what it did today.
• Ask what animals say. Dogs, cats and birds make different sounds in different languages, and a native speaker will enjoy telling you.
• Check the insults. Before you call anyone a dog or a pig, ask your partner how rude it sounds.

On LangX, you’re matched with people who speak the language you’re learning and are learning yours. Send a photo of your pet and a few sentences about it; if you get a word wrong, your partner can hold your message to correct it. Corrections are unlimited on every plan, and translation is built into the chat. The free plan gives you five new conversations a day, with replies unlimited. You can get the app here, or read how to find a language exchange partner first.

9:41

Lucía M. Online

Today

Hold any message to correct it — corrections are the most useful thing you can send.

¿Cómo fue tu fin de semana? Cuéntame en inglés si quieres. How was your weekend? Tell me in English if you like. 09:12

Fui a la playa con mi hermana. Hacía mucho calor y yo no llevé agua. 09:14 · Read

Correction from Lucía Hacía mucho calor y yo no llevé agua. Hacía mucho calor y no llevé agua. The «yo» isn't wrong, it just sounds emphatic — like you specifically forgot. 09:15

Message in Spanish…

For colors, see color words in different languages. For sea, forest and rain, see nature words; for mother and friend, family words; for hello and thank you, basic words. There are also emotion words, powerful words, words for strength and space words. To see which words come first in a language, try the most common words lists.

#FAQ

#How do you say “bird” in different languages?

German Vogel, Italian uccello, Greek πουλί, Turkish kuş, Persian پرنده, Bengali পাখি, Malayalam പക്ഷി, Indonesian burung and Vietnamese chim. The bird page has 39 languages, but check it for false matches.

#How do you say “fish” in every language?

French poisson, Italian pesce, German Fisch, Greek ψάρι, Turkish balık, Arabic سمك, Hindi मछली, Bengali মাছ, Georgian თევზი, Korean 물고기 and Tagalog isda. The fish page has 45 languages.

#How do you say “cat” and “dog” in different languages?

Cat is gato in Spanish, chat in French, Katze in German, گربه in Persian and 고양이 in Korean. Dog is perro, chien, Hund, سگ and 개. See the cat and dog pages.

#Which animal word is found in the most languages?

Dog: it is in all 53 languages on the site. Horse is in 49, while pig and bird are in 39 each.

#Why does the bear page list verbs?

English “bear” is also a verb, and the data matches every meaning of the English word. More than half of the bear page’s rows mean “to bear” or “to endure”, so we list only the animal here.