French words for kids · Animals
How to say “cat” in French
Cat is a short, friendly word to say, and nearly every child has a favorite cat from a book, a show or the house next door.
Cat in French
le chat
Sounds like ≈ luh SHAH
Good to know: The t is silent: just "shah". A female cat is la chatte, and French cats say miaou.
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our French songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
Le chat !
The cat!
from Le chat et le chien (The Cat and the Dog)
A comme avion! Le ballon! Le chat!
A is for avion — airplane! The ball! The cat!
from A comme Avion (A Is for…)
Un chat rouge!
A red cat!
from Les Sons Rigolos (Special Sounds)
3 songs that teach it
“Cat” is one of the key words in these songs. Every line is shown in French with its English meaning.
Le chat et le chien
The Cat and the Dog · Animals · Premium
- chat · cat
- chien · dog
- miaou · meow
- ouaf · woof
A comme Avion
A Is for… · ABC & First Sounds · Premium
- l'avion · plane
- le ballon · ball
- le chat · cat
- le dauphin · dolphin
Les Sons Rigolos
Special Sounds · ABC & First Sounds · Premium
- le garçon · boy
- le glaçon · ice cube
- l'enfant · child
- le bonbon · candy
Also sung in: Que dit l'animal ?, Où Est-ce ?, Moi, Je Peux !, J'ai, Tu As, L'Orchestre des Animaux.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Crawl around as cats and "meow" the French way.
- 2When you read a picture book, point to every cat and say chat.
- 3Play hide-and-seek with a toy cat and call chat while you look.
Related French words
“Cat” 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.