Animals in Chinese: Cat, Dog and the 12 Zodiac Signs

Cat in Chinese is 貓 (māo), and dog is 狗 (gǒu). When you count them, you add a measure word: 一隻貓 (yì zhī māo, one cat), 兩隻狗 (liǎng zhī gǒu, two dogs). Almost all small animals take 隻 (zhī), so if you learn one measure word for animals, learn that one.

The 12 zodiac animals in order are 鼠 (shǔ), 牛 (niú), 虎 (hǔ), 兔 (tù), 龍 (lóng), 蛇 (shé), 馬 (mǎ), 羊 (yáng), 猴 (hóu), 雞 (jī), 狗 (gǒu) and 豬 (zhū). Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig.

Pinyin here writes 一 in its spoken tone, such as yì zhī māo. Its dictionary tone is yī.

Common animals with their measure words

Animal	Chinese	Pinyin	Measure word
cat	貓	māo	一隻貓
dog	狗	gǒu	一隻狗
bird	鳥	niǎo	一隻鳥
fish	魚	yú	一條魚
rabbit	兔子	tù zi	一隻兔子
mouse, rat	老鼠	lǎo shǔ	一隻老鼠
horse	馬	mǎ	一匹馬 (yì pī mǎ)
cow	牛	niú	一頭牛
pig	豬	zhū	一頭豬
chicken	雞	jī	一隻雞
duck	鴨	yā	一隻鴨
goose	鵝	é	一隻鵝
sheep, goat	羊	yáng	一隻羊
monkey	猴子	hóu zi	一隻猴子
tiger	老虎	lǎo hǔ	一隻老虎
lion	獅子	shī zi	一頭獅子
elephant	大象	dà xiàng	一頭大象
bear	熊	xióng	一隻熊
wolf	狼	láng	一隻狼
fox	狐狸	hú li	一隻狐狸
snake	蛇	shé	一條蛇
turtle	烏龜	wū guī	一隻烏龜
frog	青蛙	qīng wā	一隻青蛙
butterfly	蝴蝶	hú dié	一隻蝴蝶
bee	蜜蜂	mì fēng	一隻蜜蜂
ant	螞蟻	mǎ yǐ	一隻螞蟻
penguin	企鵝	qì é	一隻企鵝
dolphin	海豚	hǎi tún	一隻海豚
whale	鯨魚	jīng yú	一隻鯨魚

The measure word guide sets out the rule: 隻 for small animals, 頭 for large livestock, 條 for fish and snakes, 匹 for horses. In Taiwan, 匹 for horses is read pī, the Ministry of Education reading. Many learner materials and mainland dictionaries give pǐ, so you may see both. If you are unsure of the measure word, 隻 will be understood for most animals.

Notes on the table:

• 子 on the end. 兔子, 猴子 and 獅子 end in 子 with a light tone (tù zi, hóu zi, shī zi). The same pattern is in 鼻子 and 桌子.
• 老 does not mean “old” here. In 老鼠 and 老虎, 老 (lǎo) is a prefix. A young mouse is still a 老鼠.
• Whale. 鯨魚 (jīng yú) contains 魚 (fish), although the dictionary classes the whale as a mammal.
• Pandas. The Ministry of Education dictionary gives 貓熊 (māo xióng) as the main entry for the giant panda and lists 熊貓 (xióng māo) as another name. Both are understood in Taiwan, and 貓熊 is the form the dictionary prefers.

Saying what you have, like and keep

• 我養了一隻貓 (wǒ yǎng le yì zhī māo, I keep a cat). 養 (yǎng) is the verb for raising a pet or animal.
• 我喜歡狗 (wǒ xǐ huān gǒu, I like dogs).
• 我有兩隻小鳥 (wǒ yǒu liǎng zhī xiǎo niǎo, I have two little birds). Use 兩 (liǎng), not 二, before a measure word.
• 你有寵物嗎？ (nǐ yǒu chǒng wù ma, do you have a pet?). 寵物 (chǒng wù) is the word for pet.

Cute-sounding forms are common: 貓咪 (māo mī, kitty) is a listed word in the dictionary, and 小 (xiǎo, little) goes in front of many animal names.

The 12 zodiac animals in order

The Chinese zodiac is 十二生肖 (shí èr shēng xiào). It pairs each of 12 animals with one of the 12 earthly branches, 地支 (dì zhī). Each animal covers a year, and the cycle repeats every 12 years.

Order	Branch	Animal	Pinyin
1	子 (zǐ)	鼠	shǔ
2	丑 (chǒu)	牛	niú
3	寅 (yín)	虎	hǔ
4	卯 (mǎo)	兔	tù
5	辰 (chén)	龍	lóng
6	巳 (sì)	蛇	shé
7	午 (wǔ)	馬	mǎ
8	未 (wèi)	羊	yáng
9	申 (shēn)	猴	hóu
10	酉 (yǒu)	雞	jī
11	戌 (xū)	狗	gǒu
12	亥 (hài)	豬	zhū

Reading the zodiac in Taiwan:

• Ask someone’s sign. 你屬什麼？ (nǐ shǔ shén me?) asks which animal you were born under. The answer is 我屬龍 (wǒ shǔ lóng, I was born in a dragon year). 屬 (shǔ) here means “belongs to”.
• The year changes at Lunar New Year. Someone born in January can belong to the previous animal. If you need a precise answer, check the date of Lunar New Year for that year.
• Recent years. 2024 was 龍 (dragon), 2025 was 蛇 (snake), 2026 is 馬 (horse) and 2027 will be 羊 (goat), each starting at that year’s Lunar New Year.
• 羊 is wider than “sheep”. The character covers both sheep and goats, and English-language sources use either word for the eighth sign. In Taiwan you will see 羊 on its own.
• Two words for the sign. 生肖 (shēng xiào) is the zodiac itself, and the Ministry of Education dictionary lists 屬相 (shǔ xiàng) as another word for marking a birth year with an animal.

A well-known folk story about a race is told to explain the order, and the order is fixed.

Animals you may meet in Taiwan

• 台灣獼猴 (Tái wān mí hóu): the macaque of Taiwan.
• 台灣黑熊 (Tái wān hēi xióng): the Formosan black bear, a mountain animal.
• 梅花鹿 (méi huā lù): the sika deer, literally plum-blossom deer.

Two less welcome animals are 蟑螂 (zhāng láng, cockroach) and 蚊子 (wén zi, mosquito), words you will want to have ready if you live in Taiwan.

Animal expressions worth learning

Expression	Pinyin	Meaning
馬馬虎虎	mǎ ma hū hū	so-so, sloppy; 虎 is read hū here
對牛彈琴	duì niú tán qín	to play an instrument to an ox; wasted effort on an audience that cannot appreciate it
畫蛇添足	huà shé tiān zú	to draw legs on a snake; to spoil something by adding too much
一石二鳥	yì shí èr niǎo	one stone, two birds

馬馬虎虎 is the useful one in speech: asked how something is, 馬馬虎虎 means “so-so”. The dictionary points to this word for the reading hū of 虎, which makes it a good small item for your flashcards.

Many animal characters began as pictures. The pictograph guide shows 馬, 魚, 鳥 and 龜 and explains how the Traditional forms keep more of the drawing than the Simplified ones.

Related reading

• Chinese measure words
• Chinese pictographs
• Chinese homophones and lucky numbers in Taiwan