Do you have hunger?
Languages don’t always express things in the same way, and this little phrase is a great example.
Italians aren’t hungry, they have hunger.
Learn more expressions with “have” in episode 74 of 5 Minute Italian.
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Vocabulary: How to say I’m hungry in Italian
- Ho fame = I’m hungry (lit. I have hunger)
- Ho = I have
- Fame = hunger
- Hai sempre fame = you’re always hungry
- Hai = you have (spelt h-a-i, but the h is silent)
- Sempre = always
- Fame = hunger
- Sì, ma adesso ho molta fame = yes, but now I’m really hungry
- Sì = yes
- Ma = but
- Adesso = now
- Ho = I have
- Molta = lots of
- Fame = hunger
- Anch’io ho fame = I’m hungry too.
- Anch’io = also I
- Ho = I have
- Fame = hunger
- Allora mangiamo qualcosa? = So shall we eat something?
- Allora = so/well/then (depending on the context)
- Mangiamo = we eat/let’s eat
- Qualcosa = something
- Ha fame = he/she is hungry (lit. has hunger)
- Abbiamo fame = we have hunger
- Avete fame = youPlural have hunger
- Hanno fame = they have hunger
- Ho pazienza = I’m patient (I have patience)
- Ho paura = I’m afraid (I have fear)
- Ho trentatre anni = I’m 33 (lit. I have 33 years)
- Quanti anni hai? = how old are you?
- Quanti = how many
- Anni = years
- Hai = you have
- Quanti anni hai? = how many years do you have (how old are you).
- Ho trentasei anni = I’m 36 (lit. I have 36 years).
Quiz: How to say I’m hungry in Italian
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Flashcards: How to say I’m hungry in Italian
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Transcript: How to say I’m hungry in Italian
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian. I’m Katie
Matteo: And I’m Matteo, ciao! Let’s listen to a conversation we have almost every day.
K: Matteo, ho fame.
M: Hai sempre fame.
K: Sì, ma adesso ho molta fame.
M: Anch’io ho fame. Allora mangiamo qualcosa?
K: In that little conversation, you heard the expression “ho fame”, which means “I’m hungry”. Literally, it’s:
M:
Ho = I have (spelt h o, but the h is silent)
Fame = hunger
K: So Italians don’t say “I’m hungry”, they say “I have hunger”. Ho fame. Next you heard:
M: Hai sempre fame
K: You’re always hungry. Literally:
M:
Hai = you have (spelt h-a-i, but the h is silent)
sempre = always
fame = hunger
So following the pattern, to say “you’re hungry” we say “you have hunger” hai fame. Then you heard:
M: Sì, ma adesso ho molta fame
K: Which means “yes, but now I’m really hungry”. Literally:
Sì = yes
Ma = but
Adesso = now
Ho = I have
Molta = lots of
Fame = hunger
K: So because in Italian, we say “I have hunger”, to say “I’m really hungry”, we literally say “ho molta fame”. We say molta with an a at the end, because fame (hunger) is a feminine noun, la fame. Next you heard:
M: Anch’io ho fame
K: I’m hungry too. Literally:
M:
Anch’io = also I
Ho = I have
Fame = hunger
M: Allora mangiamo qualcosa?
K: So shall we eat something?
M:
Allora = so/well/then (depending on the context)
Mangiamo = we eat/let’s eat
Qualcosa = something
K: So we know how to say “I’m hungry”, literally “I have hunger”
M: Ho fame
K: And “you’re hungry”. Literally “you have hunger”.
M: Hai fame
K: What about the other people. How do you say “he/she has”
M: Ha
K: Spelt (h – a) but the h is silent. We’ve got lots of silent letters in this episode, so if you want to see it all written down you can head over to our website, we’ll give you the details at the end. So He/she has is “ha”. How would you say “he or she is hungry” (has hunger)
M: Ha fame.
K: And how do you say “we have”?
M: Abbiamo
K: We’re hungry (we have hunger)
M: Abbiamo fame
K: Now Italian has a plural you for speaking to more than one person. How do you say “you plural have”
M: Avete
K: Imagine you’re with a group of people. How would you ask “are you hungry” literally: you have hunger?
M: Avete fame?
K: Finally they have.
M: Hanno
K: Spelt h-a-n-n-o. The h is always silent in Italian: hanno. They’re hungry (they have hunger)
M: Hanno fame.
K: Interestingly, there are a few other expressions that have the same structure in Italian. For example, to say “I’m patient”, we literally say “I have patience”
M: Ho pazienza
K: To say “I’m afraid”, we say “I have fear”
M: Ho paura
K: Then, you may have come across this one before. To talk about ages, I don’t say “I am 33”, but rather “I have 33 years”
M: Ho trentatre anni
K: That’s for me, I have thirty three years: ho trentatre anni. And then I can ask Matteo: Quanti anni hai? Let’s break that down:
M:
Quanti = how many
Anni = years
Hai = you have
Quanti anni hai? = how many years do you have (how old are you).
K: So Matteo, quanti anni hai?
M: Ho 36 anni
K: Did you get that? He said “ho” (I have) trentasei anni (36 years)
K: If you enjoyed this episode, per favore, head over to itunes and give us a nice review – it’s really important as this helps other people find these Italian lessons too. Grazie in advance.
And as we mentioned before, we had a lot of silent letters in this one, so to see the words and expressions from today’s lesson head over to our website joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll down to episode 74. You’ll also get bonus materials like a quiz and flashcards. And you can join our Facebook group by going to facebook.com/groups/5.minute.italian/, where you’ll find our fab community who practises chatting in Italian together.
Ciao for now, see you next time or as we say in Italian,
M: Alla prossima!
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