How To Talk About Animals In Dutch

Animals love when you speak to them in Dutch. At least, we think they do.
A giraffe sticking out its tongue to represent animals in Dutch

In modern times, people don’t come into contact with animals very often. Besides pests, pets and the animals that end up on our plate, city living especially can feel devoid of nature. The nature writer Robert Macfarlane has a book about how even the words we teach our children have become less and less natural. When some kids hear “bugs” they’re more likely to think of computer ones than those outside the door.

This may all sound dramatic, but there’s a good chance you haven’t spent much time thinking about animals around you recently. A trip to the Netherlands can change that, with countrysides filled with ecological diversity. And what better way to prepare for that than to study the words for animals in Dutch? To get you started, we put together an introductory guide to animal vocabulary. To hear each of the Dutch animal words pronounced by a native speaker, just hit the play button next to each term.

General Animal Vocab

the animal — het dier

the pet — het huisdier

the farm animal — het boerderijdier

the wild animal — het wilde dier

the sea creature — het zeedier

the veterinarian — de dierenarts

Names of Animals In Dutch

the dog — de hond

the cat — de kat

the fish — de vis

the mouse — de muis

the hamster — de hamster

the rabbit — het konijn

the rat — de rat

the guinea pig — de cavia

the chicken — de kip

the cow — de koe

the pig — het varken

the sheep — het schaap

the goat — de geit

the donkey — de ezel

the horse — het paard

the elephant — de olifant

the camel — de kameel

the bird — de vogel

the duck — de eend

the goose — de gans

the pigeon — de duif

the penguin — de pinguïn

the parrot — de papegaai

the owl — de uil

the eagle — de adelaar

the dolphin — de dolfijn

the octopus — de octopus

the blue whale — de blauwe vinvis

the jellyfish — de kwal

the starfish — de zeester

the shark — de haai

the sea turtle — de zeeschildpad

the bear — de beer

the wolf — de wolf

the crocodile — de krokodil

the snake — de slang

the kangaroo — de kangoeroe

the frog — de kikker

the squirrel — de eekhoorn

the giraffe — de giraf

the hippopotamus — het nijlpaard

the sloth — de luiaard

the deer — de ree

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