What sound does a frog make according to the English language? A frog makes a “ribbit.” In English, “ribbit” is an onomatopoeia: a word that imitates or represents a sound. It is the familiar frog noise used in children’s books, cartoons, jokes, and quiz questions.
The association became especially strong because the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla), native to western North America, produces a call that resembles “ribbit.” Since this species lives near Hollywood, its call was frequently used as a stock sound effect in films and television. That helped make “ribbit” the standard English-language representation of a frog’s voice, even though many frog species sound quite different.
“Croak” is also a legitimate English word for a frog’s call, especially as a verb or a general description. However, in a simple animal-sounds question asking what a frog says, “ribbit” is the conventional and canonical answer. Individual species may instead be described as chirping, trilling, peeping, or even making a “jug-o-rum” call, while the other options—meow, quack, and moo—are conventionally associated with cats, ducks, and cows.