The world of children is full of animals. Children’s books, movies and songs have constant references to creatures of all sorts. Then we grow older, and we get further and further away from the animal kingdom, except for the occasional nature documentary. But in a lot of ways, starting out learning a language can make you feel younger again, returning you to your days in school memorizing vocabulary. Why not return to the animals? Learning the animals in Portuguese might not be the most practical vocabulary (unless you’re a zoologist), but it can be a fun way to practice a language.
To get you started, we collected vocab for many of the animals in Portuguese. We also included some animal sounds in Portuguese at the bottom, which we think are particularly fun. To hear how these words are pronounced, click on the play button next to each term!
General Animal Vocab
the pet — o animal doméstico
the farm animal — o animal de criação caseira
the wild animal — o animal selvagem
the sea creature — o animal marinho
the fur — o pelo
the veterinarian — o veterinário (masc.), a veterinária (fem.)
Names of Animals In Portuguese
the dog — o cachorro
the cat — o gato
the fish — o peixe
the mouse — o camundongo
the hamster — o hamster
the rabbit — o coelho
the rat — o rato
the guinea pig — o porquinho da Índia
the duck — o pato
the chicken — a galinha
the cow — a vaca
the pig — o porco
the sheep — a ovelha
the goat — a cabra
the donkey — o burro
the horse — o cavalo
the elephant — o elefante
the camel — o camelo
the bird — a ave
the penguin — o pinguim
the goose — o ganso
the pigeon — a pomba
the parrot — o papagaio
the owl — a coruja
the eagle — a águia
the dolphin — o golfinho
the octopus — o polvo
the blue whale — a baleia-azul
the jellyfish — a água-viva
the starfish — a estrela-do-mar
the shark — o tubarão
the sea turtle — a tartaruga-marinha
the bear — o urso
the wolf — o lobo
the crocodile — o crocodilo
the snake — a cobra
the kangaroo — o canguru
the frog — a rã
the squirrel — o esquilo
the giraffe — a girafa
the hippopotamus — o hipopótamo
the sloth — o bicho-preguiça
the deer — o corço
the bug — o bicho
the fly — a mosca
the mosquito — o mosquito
the spider — a aranha
the ant — a formiga
the bee — a abelha
the butterfly — a borboleta
the moth — a mariposa
the cockroach — a barata
Animal Sounds In Portuguese
woof — au-au
meow — miau
cock-a-doodle-doo — cocoricó
quack quack — quá-quá
moo — muu
ribbit — croac
caw — cra-cra
baa — mééé
cluck cluck — cocodé