Portuguese words for kids · Animals
How to say “cat” in Portuguese
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 Portuguese (Portugal)
o gato
Sounds like ≈ oo GAH-too
Good to know: The final -o sounds like a short "oo". Gatinho is "kitty".
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our Portuguese songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
O gato diz…
Cat says…
from O Gato e o Cão (The Cat and the Dog)
G de gato!
G is for cat!
from A de Avião (A Is for…)
Um gato grande!
A big cat!
from Os Animais (The Animals)
2 songs that teach it
“Cat” is one of the key words in these songs. Every line is shown in Portuguese with its English meaning.
Also sung in: Os Animais, O Que Diz o Animal?, Onde Está?, Eu Tenho, Tu Tens, A Orquestra dos Animais.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Crawl around as cats and "meow" the Portuguese way.
- 2When you read a picture book, point to every cat and say gato.
- 3Play hide-and-seek with a toy cat and call gato while you look.
Related Portuguese words
“Cat” in other languages
Sing it in Portuguese, 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). Portuguesehas 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 Portuguese songs with your family.