The 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals in Order: Names, Signs and What to Say

By the end you can

• Say the twelve zodiac animals in order. One chart gives every animal from 鼠 (rat) to 猪 (pig) with pinyin and its years from 1984 to 2031. Say them as a chant in three groups of four.
  鼠、牛、虎、兔，龙、蛇、马、羊，猴、鸡、狗、猪。 · Shǔ, niú, hǔ, tù, lóng, shé, mǎ, yáng, hóu, jī, gǒu, zhū. · Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig.
• Read the story of the Great Race. A short passage in Chinese with pinyin tells how the rat rode the ox across the river to come first, and why there is no Year of the Cat.
  第一个到了！ · Dì-yī gè dào le! · First one here!
• Ask for someone's sign and give your own. Ask 你属什么？ and answer with 属 + animal, with no 是. Some people ask it as a gentle way to work out your age.
  我属马。 · Wǒ shǔ mǎ. · I'm a Horse.
• Find the right sign for a January or February birthday. Your sign follows the Chinese year, which starts at Chinese New Year, so an early-year birthday can belong to the year before. Practise with the real New Year dates.
  我是一九九一年一月出生的，所以我属马。 · Wǒ shì yī jiǔ jiǔ yī nián yī yuè chūshēng de, suǒyǐ wǒ shǔ mǎ. · I was born in January 1991, so I'm a Horse.
• Talk about your animal year and say which animal a year is. Read a year digit by digit with 年, say which animal it belongs to, and talk about your 本命年, when many people wear something small and red.
  二〇二七年是羊年。 · Èr líng èr qī nián shì yáng nián. · 2027 is the Year of the Goat.
• Make friendly small talk about each sign. Twelve lines on what people say about each sign, from clever Rats to generous Pigs, to use as a light compliment at the table.
  属鼠的人很聪明。 · Shǔ shǔ de rén hěn cōngming. · People say Rats are clever.
• Use animal words in everyday Chinese. 马上 (right away), 马马虎虎 (so-so), 熊猫 (panda), 牛奶 (milk) and more, and count animals with 只, or 头 for big farm animals.
  我马上来！ · Wǒ mǎshàng lái! · I'll be right there!

What’s inside

• The 12 Animals: The 12 Animals in Order · The Great Race · Order Practice and the Chant
• Your Sign: Learn: What's Your Animal? · Practice: Find Your Family's Signs
• Your Year: Your Animal Year · What People Say About Each Sign
• Animal Words: Animals in Everyday Words
• Review: A New Year Dinner

How to use this book

Four short chapters and a New Year dinner to finish. Start with the chart on page 3 and say the order as a chant, counting on your fingers. Play each line on the free audio, pause and say it back. At a page a day it takes about nine days.

1. Days 1–3: The twelve animals. Pages 3 to 5. Learn the chart, read the Great Race story, then say the chant until you can do all twelve in under fifteen seconds.
2. Days 4–5: Your sign. Pages 6 and 7. Ask and answer 你属什么？, check any January or February birthdays against New Year, and do Lin Hao's family on the audio.
3. Days 6–7: Your year. Pages 8 and 9. Read years aloud digit by digit, work out your next 本命年, and pick a friendly line for each sign in your family.
4. Day 8: Animal words. Page 10. Learn the everyday words hiding a zodiac animal, and say 我马上来！ next time you're on your way somewhere.
5. Day 9: The New Year dinner. Page 11. Play the dinner dialogue, answer the questions, then tell the table your animal and two other people's. Check your answers at the back.

Who it’s for

Adult beginners who want the zodiac in Chinese: to say the twelve animals in order, give their own sign and chat about animal years with friends, colleagues or family at Chinese New Year.

Before you start: Nothing. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and the free audio reads each one with a pause to say it back. The answers to every exercise are at the back.

Frequently asked questions

What's inside?

A chart of the twelve animals with their years from 1984 to 2031, the Great Race story with pinyin, and pages on asking for a sign, finding your family's signs, your animal year and what people say about each sign. Page 10 has everyday words with an animal in them, and page 11 is a New Year dinner.

How do I ask someone's sign in Chinese?

Ask 你属什么？ and answer with 属 plus your animal, with no 是. Some people ask it as a gentle way to work out your age.

What is my animal if I was born in January or early February?

Your sign follows the Chinese year, which begins at Chinese New Year, between late January and mid-February. Check that year's New Year date: in 1991 it fell on 15 February, so a January 1991 baby is a Horse, the 1990 animal. Page 7 has practice with real dates.

What is a 本命年?

Your 本命年 is your own animal year, which comes round every twelve years. Many people wear something small and red that year, like socks or a string bracelet, for good luck. If you were born in a Goat year (1991, 2003 or 2015), 2027 is yours, from 6 February.

Does the book tell fortunes?

No. Page 9 gives what people say about each sign, such as 属鼠的人很聪明 (people say Rats are clever), as friendly small talk to use at the table. It makes no predictions.

How long does it take, and is there audio?

At a page a day, about nine days. The free audio has five tracks, one for each chapter and one for the New Year dinner, with a pause after every line to say it back. The answers are at the back.

Do I need a SayMei account?

Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor.

How do I print it?

The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too.

Keep going

Chinese New Year 2027 Workbook: Year of the Goat Greetings & Customs · Your Chinese Name: How Chinese Names Work, Choose Yours and Say It · Chinese Surnames Chart: The 100 Most Common Chinese Family Names · Chinese New Year Printables 2027: Red Envelopes, Greeting Cards and Couplets to Write · Browse all 294 workbooks