Learning German animal names is fun, especially for younger students who can follow up the lesson with a rendition of “Herr MacDonald hat ‘ne Farm,” the German equivalent to “Old MacDonald had a Farm.” Look at the definite articles and plural formation closely and try to find a pattern.
Tiere auf dem Bauernhof – German Farm Animals
When learning animal names in German, it is best to learn the corresponding article (der, die or das/deah, dee, duz) as well. For pronunciation, look at the pronunciation help given and try to say the word out loud. Here’s a list of common farm animals in German:
- die Ente, die Enten – duck, ducks [Ehntah]
- der Esel, die Esel – donkey, donkeys [Ehsal]
- der Frosch, die Frösche – frog, frogs [Frosh, Frohshah]
- die Gans, die Gänse – goose, geese [Gahnts, Gehnzah]
- das Huhn, die Hühner – chicken, chickens [Hoohn, Huihnah]
- die Kuh, die Kühe – cow, cows [Kooh, Keehah]
- die Maus, die Mäuse – mouse, mice [Mouss, Moizah]
- das Pferd, die Pferde – horse, horses [Feaht, Feahdah]
- das Pony, die Ponys – pony, ponies [Ponnee]
- die Ratte, die Ratten – rat, rats [Rahttah]
- das Schaf, die Schafe – sheep, sheeps [Shahf]
- der Schwan, die Schwäne – swan, swans [Shvahn]
- das Schwein, die Schweine – pig, pigs [Shvyn]
- die Ziege, die Ziegen – goat, goats [Tseegah]
Plural Formation of German Nouns
As one can see from the list of German farm animals above, plural formation varies according to word ending. There are three types of plurals:
- Nouns ending with -e form their plural by simply adding-n, for example: Ente – Enten.
- Nouns loaned from English add -s for plural, for example Pony – Ponys.
- Nouns ending with a consonant add -e for plural, for example: Schaf – Schafe. Note that Esel – Esel is an exception.
Some nouns in the last category change the vowel a,o or u to the respective umlaut ä, ö or ü for plural, for example: Gans – Gänse, Frosch – Frösche or Kuh – Kühe. Note that this remnant from the middle high version of both languages can still be seen in English for goose – geese and mouse – mice.
Beliebte deutsche Haustiere – Popular German Pets
Here’s a list of the most popular German pets, their plurals and pronunciation. Note that animal names with diminutive like Kaninchen and Meerschweinchen don’t change in plural.
- der Fisch, die Fische – fish, fishes [Fish]
- der Goldfisch – goldfish, goldfishes [Goltfish]
- der Hamster, die Hamster – hamster, hamsters [Hamstah]
- der Hund, die Hunde – dog, dogs [Hoont]
- die Katze, die Katzen – cat, cats [Kahtsah]
- das Kaninchen, die Kaninchen – rabbit, rabbits [Kahneenhien]
- das Meerschweinchen, die Meerschweinchen – guinea pig, guinea pigs [Meahshvynhien]
- der Wellensittich, die Wellensittiche – budgie, budgies [Vehlahnseetteekh]
Herr MacDonald hat ’ne Farm – Old MacDonald Had a Farm in German
And finally, apply what was learned by singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” in German! Here are the lyrics to this old favorite in German:
Herr MacDonald hat ´ne Farm, ia-ia-oh
und auf der Farm da hat er [insert German animal name], ia-ia-oh.
Mit ´nem [insert corresponding animal sound in German] hier und ´nem [animal sound] da, hier ein [animal sound], da ein [animal sound] überall ein [animal sound].
Herr MacDonald hat ´ne Farm, ia-ia-oh.
German animals of course make different sounds than English animals – at least to the ears of the audience. Here’s a list of German farm animals and the sounds they make:
- Hunde / wau-wau
- Katzen / miau-miau
- Hühner / gack-gack
- Kühe / muh-muh
- Schafe/ mäh-mäh
- Schweine / gruff-gruff
- Pferde / hieha-hieha
When learning German farm animal names, the following tricks will help remember this specialized vocabulary faster:
- picture each animal while memorizing
- learn the definite article along with the noun
- sort the animal names according to the plural category they belong to
- sing a song about animals, for example “Old MacDonald” to reinforce what was learned
As a reminder, check the usage and history of German umlauts and vowel and consonant pronunciation. Then continue with learning forest animal and wild animal names in German.
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