Quick answer
¿Puedo acariciar a tu perro?
May I stroke your dog? The a before tu perro is the personal a, which Spanish also uses for loved animals.
The words
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la mascota | the pet |
| el perro | the dog |
| el gato | the cat |
| el cachorro | the puppy |
| el pájaro | the bird |
| el pez | the fish |
| el conejo | the rabbit |
| la correa | the lead |
| el collar | the collar |
| la jaula | the cage |
| el pienso | the dry pet food |
| el veterinario | the vet |
| la pata | the paw |
| pasear | to walk |
| ladrar | to bark |
The phrases you will actually say
Worth knowing
Say saco al perro rather than a literal translation of "walk the dog"; pasear al perro works too, but the everyday phrase is sacar. Loved animals take the personal a, so quiero a mi gato, while an anonymous animal does not: veo un gato. Note el pez is a live fish and el pescado the one on your plate, and that el pienso means dry feed in Spain where much of Latin America says la comida para perros or el concentrado. Spanish city rules are stricter than visitors assume: fines for uncollected mess are common, many councils require dogs to be leashed on the street, and the 2023 animal welfare law requires third-party insurance for dogs, though the rules implementing it were still being settled. The false friend to avoid is mascota, which is a pet, not a sports mascot in the usual sense.
Practice
Practise your pets words
0/8 matched — tap a Spanish word, then its translation
Check yourself
What is the everyday way to say "to take the dog out"?