How do you translate the expression to be hungry in Italian?
In this lesson, we are going to take a look at this very expression, also known as collocation, and will even talk about what kinds of hunger there are in Italian and what words you can use to describe them.
Let’s get started! Iniziamo!
To be hungry in Italian
First of all, let’s translate to be hungry in Italian.
Avere fame
To be hungry
To be hungry in Italian – Let’s break this down!
Avere fame could literally be translated as to have hunger.
Avere
To have
Fame
Hunger
Marta ha fame.
Marta is hungry.
Although you could literally translate to be hungry as essere affamato, where affamato is an adjective, in everyday life this expression is almost never used.
Essere affamato
To be hungry
Ideally you would say something like sono affamato!, I am hungry!, to emphasize your condition: I AM hungry (and I need food asap).
If all you want to do is say you’re hungry, stick to avere fame.
Avere is a verb of the second -ere group. Its indicativo presente conjugation is irregular and is as follows.
| io | ho |
| tu | hai |
| lui, lei | ha |
| noi | abbiamo |
| voi | avete |
| loro | hanno |
Avere is a very common verb that is used in a wide variety of other Italian expressions. Here are a few:
Avere sete
To be thirsty
Avere caldo
To be hot
Avere freddo
To be cold
Avere bisogno di
To need
For example, you could say:
Ho sempre molta sete dopo aver corso nel parco.
I always get very thirsty after running in the park.
Non hai caldo con quella giacca? Ci sono 26 gradi!
Aren’t you hot in that jacket? It’s 26 degrees!
Il cagnolino sta tremando. Deve avere freddo.
The puppy is shivering. It must be cold.
Per preparare la torta, abbiamo bisogno di 200 grammi di cacao in polvere.
To prepare the cake, we need 200 grams of cocoa powder.
Fame
We said that the translation for to be hungry in Italian is avere fame. Fame is a feminine noun (una/la fame). Because it’s uncountable, it has no plural form.
Non ho mangiato nulla per tutto il giorno. Ho una fame da lupi.
I haven’t eaten anything all day. I have the hunger of a wolf.
Ogni anno, milioni di persone muoiono di fame in Africa.
Every year, millions of people die of hunger in Africa.
There’s more than one kind of hunger in Italian. Here are some words that are often associated with fame or affamato.
Fame nel mondo
World hunger
Bocca da sfamare
Hungry mouth
(Mouth to feed)
Lupo affamato
Hungry wolf
Sciopero della fame
Hunger strike
For example, you could say…
I prigionieri minacciano di iniziare uno sciopero della fame.
The prisoners are threatening to go on a hunger strike.
Sono stato attaccato da un lupo affamato.
I was attacked by a hungry wolf.
Il capitalismo globale è la causa principale della fame nel mondo.
Global capitalism is the main cause of hunger in the world.
To be hungry in Italian – Examples
Se hai fame, dovresti mangiare qualcosa.
If you’re hungry, you should eat something.
Ho fame! Cosa c’è per cena stasera?
I’m hungry! What’s for dinner tonight?
La giraffa sembrava molto affamata.
The giraffe looked very hungry.
Molte persone nel mondo vanno a letto affamate ogni sera.
Every night, many people go to bed hungry around the world.
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