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Kitten sounds like a pigeon12/5/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Le lion rugit (the lion roars), and as in English, the French are also known to rugir de colère (roar with anger) in certain situations. Le cheval hennit(the horse whinnies) with a hiiiiin French-speaking lands. Babies are also said to gazouiller, or babble. When you do so, tu gazouilles (you are chirping). Those of us not adept at identifying particular kinds of bird can chirp at fowl generally with cui cui. And, if you have the misfortune to experience a French heavy metal concert, afterwards you can say that your ears are ringing (literally: buzzing), “J’ai les oreilles qui bourdonnent.” 14. L’abeille bourdonne means “the bee buzzes.” As in English, other things can also buzz: la machine bourdonne (the machine buzzes). Thus, roucouler can be used in a figurative sense in the same way as the English verb “to coo”: Les amoureux roucoulent (The lovers coo.) 13. While the French don’t agree with us about the consonants spoken by pigeons and doves, they do agree that the sounds are soft and agreeable. Le pigeon roucoule (the pigeon coos) is how you can describe a cooing pigeon. ![]() Parler français comme une vache espagnole (To speak terrible French literally: to speak French like a Spanish cow)Īs with English, French has a range of verbs to describe the noises made by cats in various emotional states: le chat feule means “the cat yowls,” le chat miaule means “the cat meows” and le chat ronronne means “the cat purrs.” 12.Bouffer de la vache enragée(To live hand-to-mouth literally: to chow down on the rabid cow)Īnd, finally, the expression that all French learners fear:.La vache! (A general exclamation of surprise, a bit like our “holy cow,” but not as dated or cheesy).Perhaps not surprisingly for a country so obsessed with cheese and dairy, French has an endless supply of expressions involving the word vache (cow). La vache mugit, or “the cow moos.” Strangely, the verb mugir is also used to describe the wailing of sirens. Le corbeau croasse means “the crow caws.” And yes, both the onomatopoeia and the verb are confusingly close to those used for frogs, even though the sounds that the two animals make are quite different. French frogs are apparently not to be trusted with secrets! 9. La grenouille coasse, or “the frog croaks.” Be careful what sweet nothings you whisper to your imagined prince-to-be, however, as the verb coasser also means to gossip about or bad-mouth someone. Duck - Coin CoinĪ duck’s noise-making is described as le canard cancane , and the verb cancaner can also mean to gossip.Īs for cancan, it is a noun for squawks, gossip and-as in English-the lively 19th-century dancing depicted by Toulouse-Lautrec, pictured below. You’ll have to just bray at them instead. In an odd fluke, the verb’s present tense only conjugates in the third person singular (as with pleuvoir, to rain). L’âne brait means “the donkey brays,” and as with English, the verb also means to speak or sing too loudly for comfort.īut don’t bother trying to say “I bray” to French people. The chirping of chicks is piou-piou, a word that is sometimes also employed to describe toddlers or babies. La poule caquète, or “the chicken clucks.” The verb caqueter means to prattle on or gossip, which seems to be a very proper way to describe the yammering of a bunch of chickens. Un coq chante means, literally, “a rooster sings.” 4. The world’s languages’ attempts to imitate the sound of a rooster are arguably the most fun words ever invented, and French’s cocorico (cock-a-doodle-do) is no exception. I’ve never heard a snake make a sound at all close to this, personally, but they’re possibly the creepiest animals on the planet, so I wouldn’t put it past them. The verb siffler also means “to whistle,” whether with your own lips or a referee’s whistle. Snake - SiffĪs the French would have it, “the snake hisses” is said as le serpent siffle. Pig - Groin-groinįrench porkers are not happy about their destinies as andouillettes, apparently the description of their oinks in French is un couchon grogne, literally meaning “a pig grumbles.” The noun for an oink is also une grogne, which also means dissatisfaction. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. So here are 21 animals worth talking to and the French noises you should make to communicate with them! That’s right-French has its own onomatopoeias for animal sounds, as well as specific verbs for making these sounds (a lamb “bleats,” a horse “whinnies”). If, all told, you’ve had enough of Francophone humans, then it might be time to learn to speak to animals in French! You’re tired of falling in love with Frenchies and sharing their lovely food. Maybe you need a break from learning to talk to Francophone businessmen. J21 French Animal Sounds: Can You Neigh, Meow and Bark in Français? ![]()
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