Animal names in Taiwanese Mandarin vocabulary

120+ Animal Names in Taiwanese Mandarin and Traditional Chinese

Animal words are oddly powerful. Learn 狗 gǒu, “dog,” and suddenly every street, park, sticker, café sign, and auntie’s phone wallpaper becomes a tiny Mandarin lesson.

For the broader learning path, visit our parent guide.

This guide teaches 120+ common animal names in Taiwan-style Mandarin using Traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, English meanings, and real example sentences. If you want more everyday word lists after this, wander over to the Traditional Chinese vocabulary hub. It is less noisy than a zoo, probably.

One tiny warning: animals bring measure words with them.

Yak wisdom: most animals use 一隻 yì zhī, but fish, snakes, and long wiggly things often use 一條 yì tiáo. Mandarin likes its counting words organized. Very bossy, very useful.

Illustrated animal vocabulary map with Traditional Chinese labels.

Quick Animal Counting Words 動物量詞 dòng wù liàng cí

Before the big animal list, here are the most useful animal measure words. Notice the tone change in 一 yī. In natural speech, 一隻 is pronounced yì zhī, not flat robot-style yī zhī.

Traditional ChinesePinyinMeaningExample (ZH)Example (Pinyin)Translation (EN)
一隻yì zhīone animal; one bird; one insect我家有一隻貓。Wǒ jiā yǒu yì zhī māo.My family has a cat.
一條yì tiáoone long animal; one fish池塘裡有一條魚。Chí táng lǐ yǒu yì tiáo yú.There is a fish in the pond.
一頭yì tóuone large animal or livestock animal農場有一頭牛。Nóng chǎng yǒu yì tóu niú.There is a cow on the farm.
一匹yì pǐone horse他騎一匹馬。Tā qí yì pǐ mǎ.He rides a horse.
一群yì qúna group, flock, herd, or swarm天空有一群鳥。Tiān kōng yǒu yì qún niǎo.There is a flock of birds in the sky.
兩隻liǎng zhītwo animals門口有兩隻狗。Mén kǒu yǒu liǎng zhī gǒu.There are two dogs by the door.

Useful Animal Phrases 常用動物短句 cháng yòng dòng wù duǎn jù

These phrases are handy for pets, zoos, night market goldfish games, and those moments when someone points at a suspicious bug and expects you to react like a functioning adult.

Traditional ChinesePinyinMeaningExample (ZH)Example (Pinyin)Translation (EN)
你喜歡動物嗎？Nǐ xǐ huān dòng wù ma?Do you like animals?你喜歡動物嗎？Nǐ xǐ huān dòng wù ma?Do you like animals?
我怕狗。Wǒ pà gǒu.I am afraid of dogs.我怕狗，可是那隻狗很可愛。Wǒ pà gǒu, kě shì nà zhī gǒu hěn kě ài.I am afraid of dogs, but that dog is cute.
牠很可愛。Tā hěn kě ài.It is very cute.牠很可愛，也很聰明。Tā hěn kě ài, yě hěn cōng míng.It is very cute and also very smart.
可以摸牠嗎？Kě yǐ mō tā ma?Can I pet it?可以摸牠嗎？Kě yǐ mō tā ma?Can I pet it?
不要餵牠。Bú yào wèi tā.Do not feed it.動物園說不要餵牠。Dòng wù yuán shuō bú yào wèi tā.The zoo says not to feed it.
牠會咬人。Tā huì yǎo rén.It bites people.小心，牠會咬人。Xiǎo xīn, tā huì yǎo rén.Be careful, it bites people.
牠跑很快。Tā pǎo hěn kuài.It runs very fast.那隻貓跑很快。Nà zhī māo pǎo hěn kuài.That cat runs very fast.
牠在睡覺。Tā zài shuì jiào.It is sleeping.小狗在睡覺，不要吵牠。Xiǎo gǒu zài shuì jiào, bú yào chǎo tā.The puppy is sleeping. Do not bother it.
這是什麼動物？Zhè shì shén me dòng wù?What animal is this?這是什麼動物？Zhè shì shén me dòng wù?What animal is this?
我想去動物園。Wǒ xiǎng qù dòng wù yuán.I want to go to the zoo.週末我想去動物園。Zhōu mò wǒ xiǎng qù dòng wù yuán.I want to go to the zoo this weekend.
那是野生動物。Nà shì yě shēng dòng wù.That is a wild animal.不要靠近，那是野生動物。Bú yào kào jìn, nà shì yě shēng dòng wù.Do not get close. That is a wild animal.
牠的毛很軟。Tā de máo hěn ruǎn.Its fur is very soft.兔子的毛很軟。Tù zi de máo hěn ruǎn.A rabbit’s fur is very soft.

Want to describe animals better? Pair this list with common Traditional Chinese adjectives and colors in Traditional Chinese. Then you can say important things like “the tiny angry black cat” with confidence.

Pets And Farm Animals 寵物和農場動物 chǒng wù hé nóng chǎng dòng wù

Related Posts

Traditional ChinesePinyinMeaningExample (ZH)Example (Pinyin)Translation (EN)
狗gǒudog我家有一隻狗。Wǒ jiā yǒu yì zhī gǒu.My family has a dog.
貓māocat那隻貓在窗邊睡覺。Nà zhī māo zài chuāng biān shuì jiào.That cat is sleeping by the window.
兔子tù zi