German zoo animals

Animals are a favourite topic at every level, from the first A1 lesson to a day out at the zoo in Berlin or Munich. In this 3D zoo, ten animals live around a small lake. Tap the lion, the giraffe or the penguin and you see its German name with the article, the plural and an example sentence.

Then play Find it: the game asks Wo ist der Löwe? (Where is the lion?) and you tap the right animal. Some animals stand at the back of the zoo, so turn it around to find them.

In Actions, the animals do something: the lion roars, the bear sleeps, the penguin swims. You choose the sentence that says what the animal is doing, so you learn the verbs too: Der Bär schläft.

German zoo animals with der, die, das

All 10 words from the game, with article, plural and meaning.

Actions: Was macht das Tier?

• Der Löwe brüllt. The lion is roaring. (brüllen)
• Der Elefant trinkt. The elephant is drinking. (trinken)
• Die Giraffe frisst. The giraffe is eating. (fressen)
• Das Zebra läuft. The zebra is running. (laufen)
• Der Affe springt. The monkey is jumping. (springen)
• Der Bär schläft. The bear is sleeping. (schlafen)
• Der Pinguin schwimmt. The penguin is swimming. (schwimmen)
• Der Flamingo steht auf einem Bein. The flamingo is standing on one leg. (stehen)

How it works

1. Explore: tap an animal in the zoo, or pick it from the list. The zoo turns to show it up close.
2. Find it: read or listen to "Wo ist …?" and tap the right animal. 10 questions per round.
3. Actions: watch what the animal does and choose the sentence: Was macht der Löwe? – Der Löwe brüllt.
4. The buttons Savanne, Wald und Berge and Wasser take you to each part of the zoo. Drag sideways or use the arrows to turn it; zoom with the buttons, Ctrl + scroll, or two fingers on a phone.
5. After each round you see your score and the animals to look at again, and you can practise just your mistakes.

Tips

• Learn every animal with its article. The colors help: blue for der, pink for die, green for das.
• Several male animals are weak nouns: der Löwe → den Löwen, der Affe → den Affen, der Bär → den Bären, der Elefant → den Elefanten.
• Animal names from other languages often take -s in the plural: die Zebras, die Flamingos.
• Animals fressen, people essen: Die Giraffe frisst Blätter. Some verbs change their vowel: schlafen → er schläft, laufen → es läuft.
• To say what you like: Mein Lieblingstier ist der Pinguin. (My favourite animal is the penguin.)

More ways to practise

More 3D scenes: Body parts, Clothes, Furniture and rooms, or see all German vocabulary in 3D. For a mix of tasks with a daily streak, try the daily German practice. Practise articles in the der / die / das quiz, or more words in the vocabulary quiz.