Animal sounds

What do dogs do? They bark. -- Do you know how to say this in Spanish? "Los perros ladran".

In Spanish, it's possible to use the verb "hacer" to put a sound in verb form. Instead of saying "los perros ladran" (dogs bark) you can say "los perros hacen guau-guau*" (dogs go wof wof*). The latter is used in children's stories, for example.

*Note that onomatopoeic sounds are not universal. In English, the sound of the dog is also written as "bow-wow", "arf", "ruff". In Spanish, the spelling doesn't change that much, but you must be careful to learn the proper Spanish spelling. ^[1]

Below is a list of appropriate verbs and nouns corresponding to the sounds made by various animals.

ANIMAL ---> VERB / NOUN


• el gato ---> maullar / maullido – ronronear / ronroneo
  cat ---> meow, miaow or mew – purr


• el perro ---> ladra / ladrido
  dogs ---> bark


• el pájaro ---> trinar, gorjear / trino, gorjeo
  bird ---> chirp, chirrup, tweet, or sing


• la paloma ---> arrullar / arrullo
  dove or pigeon ---> coo


• la cotorra, el loro ---> carretear, hablar
  parrot ---> talk


• el pollito ---> piar
  chicken ---> peep or cheep


• la gallina ---> cacarear / cacareo – cloquear o clocar / cloqueo
  hens ---> cackle – cluck


• el gallo ---> cacarear / cacareo – cantar
  rooster, cock ---> crow


• el buey, la vaca y el toro ---> mugir / mugido – bramar / bramido
  cattle ---> low or moo – bellow


• el asno, el burro ---> rebuznar (también roznar y osnear) / rebuzno
  donkey ---> bray


• el cerdo ---> gruñir / gruñido
  pig ---> grunt


• el caballo ---> relinchar / relincho – bufar / bufido
  horse ---> neigh or whinny – snort


• el carnero, el cordero, la oveja, la cabra ---> balar / balido
  sheep and goat ---> bleat


• el búho ---> ulular / ululato
  owl ---> hoot


• el cuervo ---> grajear, crascitar, graznar / grajo o graznido
  crows ---> caw


• el pato ---> graznar / graznido
  duck ---> quack


• el ganso ---> graznar / graznido
  goose ---> honk


• el león ---> rugir / rugido
  lion ---> roar


• el lobo ---> aullar / aullido
  wolf ---> howl


• la rana ---> croar
  frog ---> croak


• el ratón ---> chilla
  mouse ---> squeak


• el ciervo, el venado ---> balar / balido – bramar / bramido
  deer ---> bleat or bell – bellow


• el conejo, la liebre ---> chillar / chillido
  rabbit, hare ---> squeak


• el oso ---> gruñir / gruñido
  bear ---> growl


• el elefante ---> barritar / barrito
  elephant ---> trumpet


• el mono ---> chillar / chillido
  monkey ---> gibber


• hiena ---> reir / risa
  hyena ---> laugh


• el grillo, el saltamontes ---> chirrear o chirriar / chirrido – grillar
  cricket, grasshopper ---> chirp


• la abeja ---> zumbar / zubido
  bee ---> hum or buzz


• la serpiente ---> silbar / silbo
  snake ---> hiss

¹ Visit this link to learn animal's onomatopeias in Spanish.

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For more pet-related vocabulary, check these other posts:
Training your dog | Cats and Dogs