Most Popular Pets in the UK
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Answers – Pets in the UK
1) 26% of UK households have a dog
2) 18% have a cat
3) 2% have a rabbit
4) 1% have an indoor bird
5) 1% have a guinea pig
6) 1% have a hamster
7) 0.8% have a tortoise
8) 0.5% have a lizard
9) 0.4% have a chicken
10) 0.3% have a horse
Do you think you can confidently answer questions about pets in your country? For example what animals are popular to keep as a pet in your country? Can you tell your IELTS examiner about a pet you own now or a pet you kept when you were younger? Can you explain why some animals are good to keep as pets and other animals are not?
IELTS Speaking Animals Vocabulary
We have prepared a list of useful vocabulary that will prepare you to talk about animals in your IELTS speaking exam. Make sure that you note down all these words in your vocabulary diary so that you don’t forget them.
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IELTS Speaking Animals Part 1
In part 1 of the IELTS speaking test you may be asked straightforward questions on the topic of animals, for example about animals you think make good pets or pets you had when you were younger. Below we will look at some example part 1 speaking questions on the topic of animals:
- Why do you think dogs and cats make good pets?
- Which animals do you think would be a bad pet? Why?
- Which pets do you prefer?
- Have you ever had a pet?
Which animals are popular to keep as pets in your country? Here are some facts about pet ownership in the United States:
- 59% of US households have at least 1 pet
- 28% of US households have at least 1 dog
- 1.5 % of US households have a reptile as a pet
Now let’s look at the 10 most popular animals to keep as pets in the UK. Arrange the following animals from the most to the least popular to keep as a pet. Do the results surprise you? When you have finished look at the full results, below.
Speaking about animals – Grammar tips
1) Use the passive
Your IELTS speaking exam will be graded under 4 criteria: fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. In order to get a score of 7 or above for grammar you will need to show evidence that you can use a wide range of grammar structures. Answering questions about pets you owned ands experiences you had with animals when you were younger provides a good opportunity for you to use the passive, see examples below:
- ‘I was given a dog by my parents for my fifth birthday’
- ‘I was scratched by my friend’s cat when I was 9 years old and that put me off the idea of getting a cat as a pet‘
- ‘I was bitten badly by a dog when I was a child and now I have a phobia of them’
IELTS Speaking Animals – Part 2
In your IELTS speaking you may be asked a question about a pet that you had when you were younger, or a pet you would like to own. So, for a start let’s look at some vocabulary that can be used with two of the two most popular pets to keep in the UK: dogs and cats.
IELTS describing animals
Which of the words below are associated with cats and which ones are associated with dogs?
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Speaking about endangered animals in part 3
We often use the passive to speak about the ill-treatment and endangerment of animals and the reasons for it. For example we might say dogs are eaten in parts of Asia. This puts the emphasis on the sad situation for the dogs rather that the people who are eating them.
We can also use the passive to form a longer sentence, including why the animal is in danger. To do this we use ‘for’ to show the motivation of the hunter. In most cases animals are hunted because one part of their body is valuable. See the table below for examples:
| Animal | Passive | Reason |
| Rhinoceros | are hunted | for their horns |
| Elephants | are hunted | for their tusks |
| In Brazil crocodiles | are hunted | for their skin |