French words for kids · Animals
Animals in French for kids
Animals are a favorite topic for young children, and the sounds they make are a ready-made game: kids love finding out that a dog says something different in another language.
Animals in French
les animaux
Sounds like ≈ lay-zah-nee-MOH
Good to know: One animal is un animal, but more than one is des animaux. The s of les links to the vowel: lay-ZAH-nee-moh.
The words
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our French songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
Que dit le chat ?
What does the cat say?
from Que dit l'animal ? (What Does the Animal Say?)
2 songs that teach it
These words are key words in these songs. Every line is shown in French with its English meaning.
Also sung in: Dix Petits Oiseaux, Le chat et le chien, À la ferme, Où Est-ce ?, Bonjour, la Nature, A comme Avion, Les Sons Rigolos, Moi, Je Peux ! and 2 more.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Play a guessing game: make an animal sound and let your child name the animal in French.
- 2Line up toy animals and "call" each one by its French name to come for dinner.
- 3At the zoo or a farm, name every animal you see before reading its sign.
Related French words
“Animals” in other languages
Sing it in French, free
The first unit, 6 greeting songs with lyrics and English translation, is free forever. No card needed. Premium unlocks all 134 songs.
About the pronunciation: the “sounds like” spellings are rough English approximations for parents (capital letters show the stressed syllable). Frenchhas sounds English doesn't, so treat them as a starting point and let the songs be the model. Songs are original and produced with AI music tools. Ideas for using French songs with your family.