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imtanisha

15 January

Russian

English (US)
Portuguese (Brazil)

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Question about English (US)

What is the difference between chick and chicken, hen? ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

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betterbrandon

16 January

Featured answer

English (US)
Spanish (Mexico) Near fluent

@imtanisha You should say chicken, (unless there are multiple, then it's chickens). Same with chick/chicks for the babies. "Hen" and "rooster" aren't as common as "chicken", since "chicken" is more generic. Hen has the connotation of being a mother, but you can still use that.

"Hen and chicks" and "Chicken and chick(s)" both work well tho so don't worry too much about it. Saying just Chickens though means they are all adults.

Hopefully, that made sense but I can try to clarify if needed.

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betterbrandon

15 January

English (US)
Spanish (Mexico) Near fluent

A chick is a baby rooster or chicken.
A chicken refers to either a rooster or a hen.
A hen refers specifically to a female chicken.

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imtanisha

15 January

Russian

@betterbrandon got it. Thank you! So how should I name it on the pictures when talking with my child? Preferably a hen and a chick? or a chicken and a chick? And can I say chickens? Or chicken only?

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Zhree1

15 January

English (US)

@imtanisha Generally we would refer to all of them as chickens. “Here is the mother chicken, she is also called the hen. Here is the father chicken, he is called a rooster. These are the chicks, the baby chickens.”

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betterbrandon

16 January

English (US)
Spanish (Mexico) Near fluent

@imtanisha You should say chicken, (unless there are multiple, then it's chickens). Same with chick/chicks for the babies. "Hen" and "rooster" aren't as common as "chicken", since "chicken" is more generic. Hen has the connotation of being a mother, but you can still use that.

"Hen and chicks" and "Chicken and chick(s)" both work well tho so don't worry too much about it. Saying just Chickens though means they are all adults.

Hopefully, that made sense but I can try to clarify if needed.

See a translation

1 like

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What is the difference between chick and chicken, hen? ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

A chick is a baby rooster or chicken.A chicken refers to either a rooster or a hen.A hen refers specifically to a female chicken.

@imtanisha Generally we would refer to all of them as chickens. “Here is the mother chicken, she is also called the hen. Here is the father chicken, he is called a rooster. These are the chicks, the baby chickens.”

A chick is a baby rooster or chicken.
A chicken refers to either a rooster or a hen.
A hen refers specifically to a female chicken.