Dogs bark, cats meow, birds chirp, turtles…do something. The world is filled with animal noises, so it only makes sense that languages are filled with words to describe those noises. French and English have a few similarities in their terms, but some seem very different. Some of them are onomatopoeia while others are not, but they’re all entertaining. Here’s our guide to French animal sounds, along with a collection of French animal names for good measure.
1 Pigeons, Doves — Rou Rou
Le pigeon roucoule (the pigeon coos) is how you can describe a cooing pigeon. 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.
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.)
L’abeille bourdonne means “the bee buzzes.” As in English, other things can also buzz: la machine bourdonne (the machine buzzes). 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.”
1 Cats — Miaou (Meow), Ronron (Purr)
As 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.”
17) Cat mewing— miaou – miau
A cat’s meow in French sounds pretty similar to the way it sounds in English—miaou.
However, the French animal sound for a cat purring is ron ron, not at all similar to its English counterpart.
FAQ
What noise do dogs make in French?
What do French Owls say?
Chirp chirp goes the bird in English while in French, it goes cui-cui /kwee-kwee/.
What sound do birds make in French?
Chirp chirp goes the bird in English while in French, it goes cui-cui /kwee-kwee/.