違う動物
chigau dōbutsu
The Japanese phrase for "different animals" is 違う動物 (chigau dōbutsu).
違う動物 is used to refer to animals that are not the same as each other or not the same as a specific one.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 違う (chigau), which means "different" or "to differ" and 動物 (dōbutsu), which means "animal".
How do you pronounce it?
chigau dōbutsu
Did you know?
- The word 動物 (dōbutsu) is composed of two kanji: 'moving' and 'thing', literally describing an animal as a 'moving thing'.
- The verb 違う (chigau) is often used as a single-word response to mean 'That is wrong' or 'No, it is not', rather than just meaning 'different'.
- While 動物 covers all animals, Japanese has a specific category called 生き物 (ikimono) which translates to 'living things' and is often used more affectionately for small creatures.
Examples in context
- 違う動物がいます。There are different animals.
- ここには違う動物がたくさんいます。Koko ni wa chigau doubutsu ga takusan imasu.There are many different animals here.
- 違う動物の絵を描きたいです。Chigau doubutsu no e o kakitai desu.I want to draw pictures of different animals.
- それは違う動物ですね。Sore wa chigau doubutsu desu ne.That is a different animal, isn't it?
Example conversation
Looking at a picture book about wildlife.
- 大翔 Hirotoこの動物は、さっきのとは違う動物だね。Kono dōbutsu wa, sakki no to wa chigau dōbutsu da ne.This animal is a different animal from the previous one, isn't it?
- 美咲 Misakiそうだね。耳の形が違うよ。Sō da ne. Mimi no katachi ga chigau yo.You're right. The shape of the ears is different.
- 大翔 Hiroto違う動物がたくさん載っているね。Chigau dōbutsu ga takusan notte iru ne.There are many different animals in here.
- 美咲 Misaki全部見てみよう！Zenbu mite miyō!Let's look at them all!
