LearnModule 1 · Lesson 23 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 5 · My body, my pets

Los animales — animals and pets

Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 23 of 30: A dozen animals, the friendliest describing targets there are: small, big, black, white, two years old. On this page: 12 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.

The words

Spanish	English	Say it
el gato	the cat	ehl GAH-toh
el perro	the dog	ehl PEH-rroh
el pájaro	the bird	ehl PAH-hah-roh
el pez	the fish	ehl PEHS
el conejo	the rabbit	ehl koh-NEH-hoh
el caballo	the horse	ehl kah-BAH-yoh
la vaca	the cow	lah BAH-kah
el cerdo	the pig	ehl SEHR-doh
el ratón	the mouse	ehl rrah-TOHN
el pato	the duck	ehl PAH-toh
la tortuga	the turtle	lah tohr-TOO-gah
la mariposa	the butterfly	lah mah-ree-POH-sah

Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La regla · The rule

A dozen animals — the friendliest describing targets there are: small, big, black, white, two years old, all words you already own. El gato negro es pequeño. Tiene dos años.

Y también · And also

Perro needs its rolled rr: pero with one r means "but". El pez is the fish; its plural is los peces, the z turning into c the way lápiz did.

Ojo · Watch out

perro (dog) has the rolled rr; pero with one r means but. And el pez becomes los peces in the plural.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 12 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el gato.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 23 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.

This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.

Keep these words

Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.

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