Learn German A1: Talk about Pets Lesson 40. Ask-scholars.com has started a series of lessons for German language and all the lessons are free to consume. You will learn different topics in German in this series.

Learn German A1: Using Adverbs in German Lesson 33

In this lesson, we learn about pets.

Haustiere: pets

“Haustiere” is the plural of “Haustier” and literally means “house animals“.

Hast du Haustiere? – Do you have pets?

Ich habe eine Katze. – I have a cat.

Du hast drei Katzen. – You have three cats.

Female nouns (die Katze) often have the plural ending -en.

Ich habe einen Hund. – I have a dog.

Du hast zwei Hunde. – You have two dogs.

Wir haben zwei Hunde und eine Katze. – We have two dogs and one cat.

Masculine nouns (Der Hund) often end in -e (die Hunde).

Ich habe drei Hamster. – I have three hamsters.

The plural of “Hamster” stays the same: “Hamster“.

Wir haben drei Vögel. – We have three birds.

lieben : to love

It is verb.

Ich liebe Hunde. – I love dogs.

Liebst du Katzen? – Do you love cats?

Sie liebt Katzen und er liebt Hunde. – She loves cats and he loves dogs.

Wir lieben Hamster. – We love Hamster.

Sie lieben Katzen. – They love cats.

Liebt ihr Katzen? – Do you love cats? (Plural)

Sie lieben Tiere. You love animals. (Formal)

In German, many verbs such as haben and lieben require the accusative case. Check the example below. Though there is only change in Masculine nouns in Accusative case. While Neuter Nouns and Feminine Nouns are same just like Nominative case.

Ich liebe meinen Hund. – I love my dog.

Du liebst deine Katze. – You love your cat.

Idioms related to Pets

Here are few idioms relevant to pets.

1): Hast du einen Vogel? – Are you crazy? (literally: Do you have a bird?)

He doesn’t actually possess birds. Someone is just calling him a little crazy!

2): Mein Chef hat eine Meise. – My boss is crazy. (literally: My boss has a titmouse.)

3): Bei dir piept’s wohl! – You must be crazy! (literally: There’s something chirping in you!)

It implies that someone is crazy or has lost their mind.

4): Du spinnst wohl! You must be mad! (literally: You’re spinning!)

We often say “Du spinnst wohl!” when someone is talking nonsense or is crazy. It can mean “You must be crazy!”, “You’re out of your mind” or even “You’re insane”.

5): Ich glaub, ich spinne! – I think I’m going crazy! (literally: I think I’m spinning!)

It means “I think I’m crazy” or “I think I’m going mad”. Use it to show you’re surprised, shocked, or bewildered by an event or a person’s behaviour.

mögen: to like

It is modal verb and means to like someone or something. We use it for pets here. While it is less intense than ” lieben.”

Ich mag Katzen. – I like cats.

Du magst deinen Hund. – You like your dog.

Er mag seine Katze. – He likes his cat.

Mögen Sie meinen Hund? – Do you like my dog?

Sie mag Hunde und er mag Katzen. – She likes dogs and he likes cats.

Wir mögen Hunde. – We like dogs.

Mögt ihr Hunde? – Do you like dogs? (Plural)

Welche Tiere magst du? – Which animals do you like?

Ich mag Pferde. – I like horses.

Negation to use for Pets

Ich mag deine Katze nicht. – I don’t like your cat.

Use “nicht” at the end of the sentence for negating a noun preceded by “mein,” “dein,” etc.

Ich mag deine Vögel nicht. – I don’t like your birds.

Ich mag deinen Hund nicht. – I don’t like your dog.

Read about negations through following link:

Learn German A1: Negations in German Lesson 18

Welche Tiere magst du nicht? – Which animals you do not like?

Ich mag keine Katzen. – I don’t like cats.

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