Animals in Italian: Vocabulary, Gender, and Expressions

Animal vocabulary is among the most useful basics in Italian, both for everyday conversation and for recognizing the many figurative expressions that rely on them. Some nouns change form depending on the sex of the animal, while others remain fixed regardless.

Pets

Italian	English
il cane	the dog
il gatto	the cat
il criceto	the hamster
il coniglio	the rabbit
il pesce rosso	the goldfish
l’uccellino	the little bird
la tartaruga	the turtle
il pappagallo	the parrot

Farm animals

Italian	English
la mucca	the cow
il cavallo	the horse
il maiale	the pig
la pecora	the sheep
la capra	the goat
la gallina	the hen
il gallo	the rooster
l’asino	the donkey

Wild animals

Italian	English
il leone	the lion
la tigre	the tiger
l’elefante	the elephant
l’orso	the bear
il lupo	the wolf
la volpe	the fox
il cervo	the deer
lo scoiattolo	the squirrel

Birds, fish and small creatures

Italian	English
l’uccello	the bird
il pesce	the fish
la farfalla	the butterfly
l’ape	the bee
la formica	the ant
la zanzara	the mosquito
il ragno	the spider
la rana	the frog

Masculine, feminine: agreeing the name of an animal

Some animal names have a distinct form for the male and the female, like any common noun governed by the definite articles in Italian. Others, however, keep a fixed grammatical gender, independent of the actual sex of the animal.

Type	Example	Detail
Distinct forms	il gatto / la gatta	the male cat / the female cat
Distinct forms	il cane / la cagna	the male dog / the female dog
Fixed gender (feminine)	la giraffa	always feminine, male or female
Fixed gender (masculine)	il delfino	always masculine, male or female

To specify the sex of a fixed-gender animal, Italian simply adds maschio or femmina after the noun: una giraffa femmina, un delfino maschio.

Animal sounds

Animal	Sound in Italian	Verb translation
il cane	bau bau	abbaiare (to bark)
il gatto	miao	miagolare (to meow)
la mucca	muu	muggire (to moo)
il gallo	chicchirichì	cantare (to crow)
la pecora	bee	belare (to bleat)

Common expressions with animals

Italian is full of figurative expressions built around an animal, with images that are sometimes similar to English, sometimes very different.

Expression	Meaning	Example
In bocca al lupo!	Good luck (literally “into the wolf’s mouth”)	In bocca al lupo per il tuo primo giorno di lavoro!
Avere una fame da lupo	To be hungry as a wolf	Dopo la partita ho una fame da lupo.
Lento come una lumaca	Slow as a snail	Il traffico oggi è lento come una lumaca.
Lacrime di coccodrillo	Crocodile tears, false sadness	Le sue scuse erano solo lacrime di coccodrillo.
Memoria di elefante	Memory of an elephant	Mio nonno ha una memoria di elefante per le date.
Testardo come un mulo	Stubborn as a mule	Mia sorella è testarda come un mulo quando decide qualcosa.

In bocca al lupo calls for a fixed response: Crepi! or Crepi il lupo!, literally “may it die”. Answering grazie is considered bad luck, almost a way of canceling out the good-luck formula.