How do you say are you hungry in Italian?
Are you hungry in Italian
Hai fame?
| Words you should know | Avere (to have) + fame (hunger) |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers (doh!) and groups |
Hai fame?
Are you hungry?
(singular, informal)
You can’t translate to be hungry literally, because Italian uses a noun (hunger) and a different verb (to have)!
Hai fame, Veronica? Ti preparo un panino.
Are you hungry, Veronica? I’ll make you a sandwich.
Hai fame, micione?
Are you hungry, big kitty cat?
➡️ How can “micione” mean big kitty cat? Learn the descriptive Italian suffixes here!
Avete fame?
| When to use this | With a group of people |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers (doh!) and 1 person at a time |
Avete fame?
Are you hungry?
(plural)
Italian has two kinds of “you”, unlike English. There’s a singular “you” and then there’s a plural “you”. If you are addressing a group, you will need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly.
Avete fame, bambini? Venite, vi preparo la merenda!
Are you hungry, children? Come, I’ll make you a snack!
Ha fame?
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re NOT familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With friends, family and groups |
When speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei. Use Lei in the written form if you want to be very polite.
Ha fame?
Are you hungry?
(singular, polite)
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