Tiernamen
The German for animal names is Tiernamen.
Some common animal names are Hund for dog, Katze for cat, Pferd for horse, Vogel for bird, Fisch for fish, Maus for mouse, Kaninchen for rabbit, Elefant for elephant, Löwe for lion and Tiger for tiger.
What does it mean word for word?
Tiernamen is a compound of Tier, meaning animal and Namen, meaning names.
Which one should you use?
Many animals have separate words for the male and the female. A male cat is Kater, while Katze is the general word and also the female. A female dog is Hündin, a lioness is Löwin, a tigress is Tigerin and a mare is Stute.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular is der Tiername and the plural is die Tiernamen. As a direct object in the singular it becomes einen Tiernamen. Learn each animal with its gender: Hund, Löwe, Tiger, Elefant, Fisch and Vogel are masculine, Katze and Maus are feminine and Pferd and Kaninchen are neuter.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not assume every animal is masculine. Maus is feminine and Pferd is neuter.
Did you know?
- The word Tier comes from the Old High German tīar, which is a distant relative of the English word 'deer'. In ancient times, 'deer' referred to any wild animal, not just the specific species.
- The word Vogel for 'bird' is used in a common idiom Vogel haben, which means to be slightly crazy. If someone says you have a bird, they are not talking about a pet.
- The German word Schwein for 'pig' is used in the phrase Schwein haben, which means to be very lucky.
Examples in context
- Wir lernen heute neue Tiernamen.We are learning new animal names today.
- Die Tiernamen im Buch sind schwer.The animal names in the book are difficult.
- Kennst du die deutschen Tiernamen?Do you know the German animal names?
Example conversation
Maximilian and Sarah are studying German vocabulary together.
- MaximilianKannst du mir diese Tiernamen erklären?Can you explain these animal names to me?
- SarahJa, ich helfe dir gerne dabei.Yes, I am happy to help you with that.
- MaximilianDas ist sehr nett von dir, Sarah.That is very kind of you, Sarah.
- SarahKein Problem, wir schaffen das zusammen.No problem, we will manage this together.
