How do you say I am hungry in Italian?
Ho fame
| Words you should know | Avere (to have) + fame (hunger) |
Ho fame
I am hungry
Ho fame. Non c’è niente da mangiare in frigo?
I’m hungry. Isn’t there anything to eat in the fridge?
You will often hear c’ho fame in everyday language, but don’t use it in your essays.
C’ho fame!
I’m hungry!
You see, avere fame, to be hungry, is a very common collocation in Italian and it’s very different from its English translation.
Ho sempre molta fame quando torno a casa dal lavoro.
I am always very hungry when I come home from work.
Non ho molta fame. Mangerò più tardi.
I’m not very hungry. I will eat later.
Ho una fame da lupi
| Words you should know | Lupo (wolf) |
Ho una fame da lupi is an idiomatic expression that literally translates to “I have a wolf’s hunger” and it means I’m starving or I’m hungry as a bear, so it has a pretty strong tone.
Ho una fame da lupi!
I’m starving!
Ho mangiato tre panini e un pezzo di torta, ma ho ancora una fame da lupi.
I had three sandwiches and a piece of cake, but I’m still as hungry as a bear.
Non ci vedo più dalla fame
| Words you should know | Vederci (to see) |
There’s a catchphrase from a popular series of Italian commercials that goes… Tutto il giorno fuori casa, a pranzo un panino al volo e adesso non ci vedo più dalla fame.
Non ci vedo più dalla fame literally translates to “I can’t see anymore from hunger” and you use it in a funny way to say that you can’t function without a bite to eat.
Non ci vedo più dalla fame!
I’m starving!
Sono affamato
| Words you should know | Affamato (hungry) |
Although you could literally translate being hungry as essere affamato, where affamato is an adjective and matches the English syntax, in everyday life this expression is rarely used to say I am hungry in Italian unless you’re talking about a hungry animal.
Sono affamato.
I am hungry.
Le famiglie delle vittime sono affamate di giustizia.
The families of the victims are hungry for justice.
Sono affamato is more often used in a figurative sense: you’re ambitious and crave something like power, respect, or fame.
Muoio di fame! / Sto morendo di fame!
| Words you should know | Morire (to die), morire di fame (to starve) |
If you are a drama queen and want to make a fuss about having an empty belly, you can use the expression morire di fame, which literally means “to die of hunger,” to say I am hungry in Italian. Sto morendo di fame, using the gerund tense, is more common.
Muoio di fame!
I’m starving!
Sto morendo di fame!
I’m starving!
Sto lavorando ininterrottamente da ore. Sto morendo di fame!
I have been working non-stop for hours. I am starving!
Ho lo stomaco che brontola
| Words you should know | Stomaco (stomach) + brontolare (to grumble) |
Ho lo stomaco che brontola is another translation for I am hungry in Italian. It literally means “my stomach is rumbling”, while brontolare alone can mean either “to grumble” or “to complain”. If your stomach is rumbling, it’s because it’s asking for food, and so are you when you say that!
Ho lo stomaco che brontola.
I’m hungry!
Ho lo stomaco che brontola! Quando si cena?
My stomach is rumbling! When is dinner?
Ho l’acquolina in bocca
| Words you should know | Acquolina (drool) + bocca (mouth) |
“Drool” is most commonly translated as saliva in Italian, but there is one particular expression where it is translated as acquolina instead, from acqua, water.
If you have “drool in your mouth”, acquolina in bocca, it means that your body senses that food is coming and is anticipating it!
Ho l’acquolina in bocca.
I’m drooling!
Ho un certo languorino
Ho un certo languorino is a fun way to translate I am hungry in Italian. Languorino comes from languore, languor, and can be translated as “little languor”. Unlike languore, which means “longing, lethargy,” languorino is used specifically to translate “appetite”.
➡️ Learn why the -ino suffix means “little” here!
Ho un certo languorino.
I’m a little hungry.
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