Animals in Chinese and the 12 Chinese zodiac animals

October 3, 2026 · 8 min read

Animal names in Chinese are short: cat, dog, horse and fish are one syllable each. The tricky part is elsewhere: you can't say "one cat" without a measure word, and a horse takes one measure word while a fish takes another. Below are pets, farm animals and wild animals, the measure words that go with them, and the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac in order.

Pets in Chinese

• 动物dòngwùanimal
• 宠物chǒngwùpet
• 猫māocat
• 狗gǒudog
• 鸟niǎobird
• 鱼yúfish

动物 is literally "moving thing". Like English "cat" and "dog", 猫 and 狗 cover males and females alike. "To keep an animal" is 养 yǎng — to keep, to raise, and it's the verb you use to ask whether someone has a pet. Notice also that 猫 māo sounds a lot like a cat's "meow".

• 你养宠物吗？nǐyǎngchǒngwùmaDo you have a pet?
• 你家有猫吗？nǐjiāyǒumāomaDo you have a cat at home?
• 我养了一只猫wǒyǎngleyìzhīmāoI got a cat.
• 我家有一只猫和两只狗。wǒjiāyǒuyìzhīmāohéliǎngzhīgǒuWe have a cat and two dogs at home.
• 你喜欢猫吗nǐxǐhuanmāomaDo you like cats?

Farm animals in Chinese

• 马mǎhorse
• 牛niúcow, ox, bull
• 羊yángsheep, goat
• 猪zhūpig
• 鸡jīchicken
• 鸭子yāziduck

These Chinese words are broader than the English ones. 牛 is a cow, an ox and a bull; 羊 is a sheep and a goat; 鸡 is a hen, a rooster and a chicken. When you need to be precise, you add a word in front: 山羊 shānyáng, "mountain 羊", is a goat. Food words are built from the same pieces: 牛奶 is "cow milk" and 鸡蛋 is "chicken egg".

• 他家养了好多牛和羊。tājiāyǎnglehǎoduōniúhéyángHis family keeps lots of cattle and sheep.
• 爷爷养了很多猪yéyeyǎnglehěnduōzhūGrandpa keeps a lot of pigs.
• 草地上有两匹马cǎodìshangyǒuliǎngpǐmǎThere are two horses in the meadow.

Wild animals and the zoo

• 老虎lǎohǔtiger
• 熊xióngbear
• 大熊猫dàxióngmāogiant panda
• 大象dàxiàngelephant
• 猴子hóuzimonkey
• 兔子tùzirabbit, hare
• 蛇shésnake
• 动物园dòngwùyuánzoo

"Panda" in Chinese is "big bear-cat": 大 + 熊 + 猫. In 老虎 the first character 老 means "old", but there's no age in it: it's just part of the name, and a tiger cub is a 老虎 too. The zoo is 动物 plus 园, "garden": a "garden of animals".

• 我想去动物园看大熊猫。wǒxiǎngqùdòngwùyuánkàndàxióngmāoI want to go to the zoo to see the pandas.
• 大象的鼻子很长。dàxiàngdebízihěnchángAn elephant’s trunk is very long.
• 山上有一群猴子。shānshangyǒuyìqúnhóuziThere’s a troop of monkeys on the mountain.
• 我最怕蛇wǒzuìpàshéSnakes scare me more than anything.

Fun detail: an elephant's trunk is simply its 鼻子, "nose".

Measure words for animals

In Chinese a measure word goes between a number and a noun, a bit like "a head of cattle" or "a flock of birds" in English, except it's never optional. Animals use several, and the choice depends on the animal.

• 只zhīfor most animals一只猫, 两只狗, 一只鸟
• 条tiáofor long ones: fish, snakes一条鱼, 一条蛇
• 匹pǐfor horses一匹马
• 头tóufor large livestock一头牛, 一头猪

When in doubt, use 只: it works for a cat, a dog, a bird, a chicken, a sheep, a tiger and even a butterfly. 条 is the measure word for anything long and flexible, from fish to roads to pants. 匹 is almost entirely reserved for horses. 头 on its own means "head": cows and pigs are counted "by the head", just like "fifty head of cattle".

• 我有一只猫wǒyǒuyìzhīmāoI have a cat.
• 那两只老虎，一大一小。nàliǎngzhīlǎohǔ,yídàyìxiǎoThose two tigers: one big, one small.
• 花上有一只蝴蝶huāshangyǒuyìzhīhúdiéThere’s a butterfly on the flower.
• 小心，草地上有一条蛇xiǎoxīn,cǎodìshangyǒuyìtiáoshéCareful, there’s a snake in the grass.
• 别怕，这只狗不咬人biépà,zhèzhīgǒubùyǎorénDon’t worry, this dog doesn’t bite.

The 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order

In the Chinese calendar the years go round in a cycle of twelve animals. The cycle is called 生肖 shēngxiào — zodiac sign (birth year animal). The order is always the same:

• 鼠shǔ1. Ratin speech: 老鼠 lǎoshǔ
• 牛niú2. Ox
• 虎hǔ3. Tigerin speech: 老虎
• 兔tù4. Rabbitin speech: 兔子
• 龙lóng5. Dragon
• 蛇shé6. Snake
• 马mǎ7. Horse
• 羊yáng8. Goat (Sheep)
• 猴hóu9. Monkeyin speech: 猴子
• 鸡jī10. Rooster
• 狗gǒu11. Dog
• 猪zhū12. Pig

In the names of the years the animals take one syllable, without 老 or 子: a tiger in conversation is 老虎, but the Year of the Tiger is 虎年. The debate over whether the eighth year belongs to the Goat, the Sheep or the Ram, and the tenth to the Rooster or the Chicken, exists only in translation: in Chinese they're simply 羊 and 鸡. The Dragon is the only animal on the list that doesn't exist.

• 生肖一共有十二个shēngxiàoyígòngyǒushí’èrgeThere are twelve zodiac animals in all.

Chinese zodiac years: which one is it now

A year is named with the animal plus 年 nián — year: 马年 mǎ nián, "the Year of the Horse". 2026 is the Year of the Horse (马年), 2027 the Year of the Goat (羊年), 2028 the Year of the Monkey (猴年). Then the cycle goes on: Rooster, Dog, Pig, and back to the Rat. To find your own animal by birth year, see the Chinese zodiac years guide.

How to ask "what's your Chinese zodiac sign?"

There's a special verb for it, 属 shǔ, "to belong to the year of". The question and the answer are very short.

• 你属什么？nǐshǔshénmeWhat’s your zodiac animal?
• 我属马wǒshǔmǎI was born in the Year of the Horse.
• 你的生肖是什么？nǐdeshēngxiàoshìshénmeWhat’s your Chinese zodiac sign?
• 他是马年出生的。tāshìmǎniánchūshēngdeHe was born in the Year of the Horse.
• 他是龙年出生的。tāshìlóngniánchūshēngdeHe was born in the Year of the Dragon.

After 属 the animal takes one syllable: 我属虎, "I'm a Tiger", 我属兔, "I'm a Rabbit". The answer lets people guess your age, since the cycle repeats every twelve years, which is why 你属什么？ sounds gentler than asking "how old are you?" outright.