This week we focus on Italian vocabulary related to animals, write these on flash cards to practice at home for further comprehension.
The word for an animal farm in Italian is a false friend. It is is fattoria or fattoria degli animali (the word fabbrica means factory in Italian). If you go to a farm in Italy, you may find some of the following animals:
La capra - goat
L’asino- donkey
Il cavallo- horse
Il maiale - pig
La mucca- cow
La pecora - sheep
La tartaruga- tortoise
Il pavone- peacock
Il gallo- rooster or cockerel
La gallina- hen
Il tacchino- turkey
L’anatra- duck
Il pappagallo- parrot
L’oca- goose
The word for ‘zoo’ in Italian is also ‘zoo’ but pronounced ‘zoh’. It may also be called giardino zooligico, parco zoo, zoo safarior bioparco. Here you can find other animals, such as:
Il coccodrillo- crocodile
L’elefante- elephant
La giraffa- giraffe
L’ippopotamo- hippopotamus
Il leone- lion
L’orso- bear
Il serpente- snake
La scimmia- monkey
La tigre- tiger
La zebra- zebra
In the wild, these animals would live in the deserto(desert), giungla(jungle), foresta(forest), foresta pluviale(rainforest), savana(savannah), or paludi(wetlands or swamps).
To see animals who normally live in the mare(sea), oceano(ocean), fiume(river) or lago(lake), you can go to an acquario(aquarium). In an acquarioyou may be able to see:
Lo squalo - shark
La medusa- jelly fish
Il delfino- dolphin
Il pinguino- penguin
La foca- seal
La lontra - otter
Il cavaluccio marino- sea horse
Il polpo - octopus
La razza- ray
If you’re wondering how to talk about your pets in Italian, these are called animali domestici. Here below are some of the most common ones:
Il cane- dog
Il gatto- cat
Il coniglio - rabbit
Il criceto- hamster
Il topo- mouse
La tartaruga- tortoise
Il pesce- fish
La rana - frog
Here you can read a conversation about pets between two people in both Italian and English:
Hai un animale domestico?
No, non mi piacciono molto gli animali.
Davvero? A me piacciono molto!
Tu hai qualche animale domestico allora?
Sì, ne ho cinque.
Quali animali domestici hai?
Ho un canarino, un ratto, un porcellino d’india, una lucertola e una tarantola.
Wow, tanti!
Sì, fanno parte della mia famiglia.
Dove abitano?
Ho delle gabbie. Puoi venire a casa mia a vederli se vuoi?
No grazie!!!
Have you got a pet?
No, I don’t like animals very much.
Really? I like them a lot!
So have you got some pets?
Yes, I have five.
What pets do you have?
I’ve got a canary, a rat, a guinea pig, a lizard and a tarantula.
Wow, so many!
Yes, they are a part of my family.
Where do they live?
I have some cages. You can come to my house to see them if you’d like?
No thank you!!!
Italian animals make different sounds to English animals, or maybe it is more correct to say that Italians have different ways of describing the sounds animals make, compared to in English. So, what sounds do animals make in Italian? Che versi fanni gli animali in italiano?
I cani abbaiano - dogs bark (bau bau - not woof woof as in English)
i gatti miagolano - cats meow (miao)
I leoni ruggiscono - lions roar (grrrr)
Le mucche muggiscono - cows moo (muuu)
Le api ronzano - bees buzz (zzzz)
I galli cantano - roosters sing (chicchirichí)
I serpenti sibilano - snakes hiss (zsss)
Gli uccelli cinguettano - birds chirp (cip cip)
There are many sayings in Italian related to animals, here is a selection below:
In bocca al lupo - good luck (literally, in the mouth of the wolf). The response is ‘crepi!’ - let it die!
Non c’è trippa per gatti - there is no hope of getting whatever it is you want (literally, theres no tripe for cats)
Correre dietro alle farfalle - wasting time or chasing after an unachievable goal (literally, chasing butterflies)
Sputare il rospo - spill the beans or spit it out i.e. get something off your chest (literally, spit out the toad)
Fare la civetta - to flirt (literally, to be an owl)
Avere altre gatte da pelare - to have other fish to fry (literally, to have other cats to skin)
Cavallo di battaglia - someone’s forte or strong point (literally, battle horse)
Andare a letto con le galline - To go to bed early (literally, to go to bed with the chickens)
Lento come una lumaca - slow as a snail
Ubriaco come una scimmia - drunk as a skunk (literally, drunk as a monkey)
Chi dorme non piglia pesci - the early bird catches the worm (those who sleep don’t catch fish)
I hope you have enjoyed this lesson about animals in Italian. In bocca al lupo!!
