Vocabulary · Brazilian Portuguese
Animals in Brazilian Portuguese
Animals in Portuguese with audio and an example each: pets, farm animals, wild animals and the ones only Brazil has, from the capivara to the onça, plus the animal words Brazilians use about people.
46 words, each with audio · Quiz and flashcards
Animals in Portuguese, with audio
Pets
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| o bicho | animal, creatureThe everyday word; animal is more formal. | Que bicho é esse?What animal is that? | |
| o cachorroPortugal: o cão | dogCão exists in Brazil but sounds formal. | Meu cachorro late para todo mundo.My dog barks at everyone. | |
| o gato | catGato and gata also mean a good-looking man or woman. | O gato dorme o dia inteiro.The cat sleeps all day. | |
| o peixe | fish | Meu filho quer um peixe de aquário.My son wants an aquarium fish. | |
| o passarinho | little birdA bird in general is a pássaro or an ave. | Tem um passarinho na janela.There's a little bird at the window. | |
| o coelho | rabbit | As crianças ganharam um coelho.The kids were given a rabbit. | |
| o papagaio | parrotIn some regions, also a kite. | O papagaio da minha avó fala “bom dia”.My grandmother's parrot says “bom dia”. |
On the farm
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a vaca | cow | A vaca está no pasto.The cow is in the pasture. | |
| o boi | ox, steer | O boi é o símbolo da festa de Parintins.The ox is the symbol of the Parintins festival. | |
| o cavalo | horse | Ele aprendeu a andar a cavalo na fazenda.He learned to ride a horse on the farm. | |
| o porco | pig | O porco está na lama.The pig is in the mud. | |
| a galinha | hen, chicken | A galinha botou um ovo.The hen laid an egg. | |
| o frango | chicken (as food)Galinha in the yard, frango on the plate. | Hoje o almoço é frango com arroz.Today lunch is chicken and rice. | |
| o galo | rooster | O galo canta às cinco da manhã.The rooster crows at five in the morning. | |
| a ovelha | sheep | No Sul tem muita ovelha.There are lots of sheep in the South. | |
| a cabra | goat | A cabra come de tudo.Goats eat everything. | |
| o pato | duckPagar o pato is to take the blame for somebody else. | As crianças deram pão para o pato.The kids fed bread to the duck. | |
| o burro | donkeyAlso “stupid”: Não seja burro! | O burro carregava as malas.The donkey carried the bags. |
Wild animals
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| o leão | lion | O leão é o rei da selva.The lion is the king of the jungle. | |
| o elefante | elephant | O elefante tem uma memória incrível.Elephants have an incredible memory. | |
| o macaco | monkey | Um macaco pegou a banana da minha mão!A monkey grabbed the banana out of my hand! | |
| a cobra | snakeBrazilians say cobra for any snake. | Cuidado, tem cobra no mato.Careful, there are snakes in the bush. | |
| o jacaré | caiman, alligator | Vimos vários jacarés no Pantanal.We saw lots of caimans in the Pantanal. | |
| o urso | bear | Não tem urso no Brasil.There are no bears in Brazil. | |
| o tubarão | shark | Em Recife tem placas avisando sobre tubarões.In Recife there are signs warning about sharks. | |
| a baleia | whale | Em julho dá para ver baleias na Bahia.In July you can see whales in Bahia. | |
| o golfinho | dolphin | Os golfinhos seguiram o barco.The dolphins followed the boat. | |
| a tartaruga | turtle, tortoise | Vimos uma tartaruga marinha em Noronha.We saw a sea turtle in Noronha. |
Brazilian animals
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a onça | jaguarIn full, onça-pintada. Virar onça is to fly into a rage. | A onça vive no Pantanal e na Amazônia.The jaguar lives in the Pantanal and the Amazon. | |
| o mico-leão-dourado | golden lion tamarinA small orange monkey, on the 20-real note. | O mico-leão-dourado só existe na Mata Atlântica.The golden lion tamarin lives only in the Atlantic Forest. | |
| o tucano | toucan | O tucano tem um bico enorme e colorido.The toucan has a huge, colorful beak. | |
| a arara | macaw | Uma arara-azul pousou na árvore.A hyacinth macaw landed in the tree. | |
| a capivara | capybaraThe world's biggest rodent, common in city parks. | Tem capivara no parque perto de casa.There are capybaras in the park near home. | |
| o boto | Amazon river dolphinThe pink one, boto-cor-de-rosa, is a figure of folklore. | Dizem que o boto vira homem nas festas.They say the river dolphin turns into a man at parties. | |
| a preguiça | slothAlso “laziness”: Que preguiça! | A preguiça desce da árvore uma vez por semana.The sloth comes down from its tree once a week. | |
| o tatu | armadillo | O tatu-bola foi o mascote da Copa de 2014.The three-banded armadillo was the 2014 World Cup mascot. | |
| o tamanduá | anteater | O tamanduá come milhares de formigas por dia.The anteater eats thousands of ants a day. | |
| o quati | coati | Em Foz do Iguaçu os quatis roubam comida dos turistas.In Foz do Iguaçu the coatis steal tourists' food. | |
| o beija-flor | hummingbirdLiterally “kiss-flower”. | Tem um beija-flor no jardim.There's a hummingbird in the garden. |
Small creatures
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a formiga | ant | Tem formiga no açúcar!There are ants in the sugar! | |
| a barata | cockroach | Ela grita quando vê uma barata.She screams when she sees a cockroach. | |
| o mosquito | mosquitoAlso pernilongo, especially in São Paulo. | Passa repelente, que tem muito mosquito.Put on repellent, there are lots of mosquitoes. | |
| a borboleta | butterfly | Uma borboleta azul entrou na sala.A blue butterfly flew into the living room. | |
| a aranha | spider | Tem uma aranha no banheiro.There's a spider in the bathroom. | |
| o sapo | toad, frog | Ouvi um sapo no quintal.I heard a frog in the backyard. | |
| a lagartixa | geckoA welcome guest: it eats the mosquitoes. | Tem uma lagartixa na parede da cozinha.There's a gecko on the kitchen wall. |
How Brazilians use them
Animals that describe people
Gato and gata mean a good-looking man or woman (Que gata!), a cachorro is a man who cheats, and a burro is someone being stupid. Preguiça is both the sloth and laziness.
Animal sayings
Cão que ladra não morde (a barking dog doesn't bite); quem não tem cão caça com gato (if you don't have a dog, hunt with a cat: make do); pagar o pato (pay for the duck: take the blame for someone else).
Galinha or frango?
Alive in the yard it's a galinha; cooked on the plate it's frango. Beef is carne, or carne de boi, and pork is carne de porco, while peixe is the same word in the sea and on the plate.
Brazil's animals are on its money
Every real note has an animal: a sea turtle on the 2, a heron on the 5, a macaw on the 10, the mico-leão-dourado on the 20, the onça on the 50, a grouper on the 100 and the maned wolf on the 200.
Practise
Quick quiz · question 1 of 8
What does cobra mean?
Questions
How do you say “animal” in Portuguese?
Animal (o animal, os animais), or in everyday speech bicho: Que bicho é esse? A pet is an animal de estimação, or just a pet.
Is “dog” cachorro or cão?
Cachorro in Brazil. Cão is the usual word in Portugal and exists in Brazil too, but sounds formal or literary, as in the saying cão que ladra não morde.
What animals live in Brazil?
Brazil's best-known animals include the onça (jaguar), capivara (capybara), tucano (toucan), arara (macaw), mico-leão-dourado (golden lion tamarin), boto (Amazon river dolphin), preguiça (sloth), tamanduá (anteater) and tatu (armadillo).
What does “gato” mean in Brazilian slang?
A good-looking man; gata is a good-looking woman. Ele é um gato means “he's gorgeous”. Gato also means a cat, and an illegal tap into the power supply.
More Portuguese words
Meet these words in real Brazilian stories
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