For all the animal lovers out there, today we’re learning how to say “cat” in French: Le chat (masculine) and la chatte (feminine).
le chat, la chatte
cat
Word origin
The modern French word chat comes from cattus (domsetic cat) in Latin. The modern French félin, an adjective meaning relating to cats or noun meaning member of that cat family, comes from felinus in Latin.
Example sentences
Mon chat se cache sous le lit.
My cat is hiding under the bed.
In conversational French, people commonly refer to their female cats in the masculine form “mon chat”. Use caution with the feminine chatte as it’s also a vulgar term for “vagina.”
Mon chat s’appelle Princesse. C’est une femelle.
My cat’s name is Princess. She’s a female.
The terms for kitty are minou (masculine) and minette (feminine). Minou is also a commonly used term of endearment. The French word for kitten is chaton.
Viens ici, mon petit minou!
Come here, my little kitty!
The adjective gros, grosse means “big” as in large sized.
Le lion est un gros félin.
The lion is a big cat.
Related lessons
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