How to Say “I’m Hungry” in Italian
To say “I’m hungry” in Italian, use ho fame, which literally means “I have hunger”. With hunger, Italian uses avere (to have), not essere (to be), so “are you hungry?” is hai fame? To say that you got hungry, use mi è venuta fame, which is the subject of the rest of this lesson.
| Person | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ho fame | I’m hungry |
| tu | hai fame | you’re hungry |
| lui/lei, Lei (formal) | ha fame | he/she is hungry, you are hungry (formal) |
| noi | abbiamo fame | we’re hungry |
| voi | avete fame | you’re hungry (plural) |
| loro | hanno fame | they’re hungry |
Fame (hunger) is pronounced FAH-meh. It is a feminine noun, so words that describe it are feminine too: ho molta fame, ho tanta fame.
More Ways to Say You Are Hungry
- Ho molta fame. / Ho tanta fame. – I’m very hungry.
- Ho una fame da lupi. – I’m ravenous (literally “I have a wolf’s hunger”).
- Sto morendo di fame. – I’m starving.
- Che fame! – I’m so hungry!
- Ho ancora fame. – I’m still hungry.
- Non ho fame. / Non ho più fame. – I’m not hungry. / I’m not hungry anymore.
- Sono affamato / Sono affamata. – I’m starving (said by a man / a woman). Affamato is the adjective for “hungry”, but ho fame is what people say every day.
The opposite is being full: sono pieno or sono piena (I’m full), and the more formal sono sazio or sono sazia.
Hai fame?
Are you hungry?
Sì, ho una fame da lupi! Andiamo a mangiare una pizza?
Yes, I’m ravenous! Shall we go and eat a pizza?
How to Say “I Got Hungry” in Italian
When you want to say, “I got hungry” in Italian, you use the expression mi è venuta fame. It literally translates to “hunger came to me”. It shares the same structure as “I got thirsty”.
Let me show you some examples to get a feel for how this is used:
Ho pranzato presto oggi e mi è già venuta fame.
I had lunch early today, and I already got hungry.
As you can see, we use the auxiliary verb essere followed by the past participle of the verb venire. Of course, remember that when you create passato prossimo with the auxiliary essere, the past participle must change in gender and number according to the subject.
And this is exactly what happens here: la fame is a feminine noun, therefore venuta agrees to the feminine feature.
Ieri mi è venuta sete durante la notte e mi sono alzata a bere.
Yesterday I got thirsty at night, and I got up to drink.
Venire + Indirect Pronouns
The verb venire works here with an indirect object pronoun. This allows you to determine who exactly is feeling hungry – or thirsty.
Keep in mind that indirect pronouns can also be replaced by the following construction: preposition a + stressed pronoun. For example, a me, a te, a lei….
A me viene spesso fame mentre faccio sport.
I often get hungry when doing sports.
You can use this same structure to describe other states or sensations, like feeling hot or cold:
Ti è venuto freddo?
Did you get cold?
Mi sta venendo caldo qui dentro, usciamo.
I am getting hot in here, let’s go out.
Being Hungry or Hot vs Getting Hungry or Hot
Sensations use avere for the state and venire for the change:
| English | State: avere | Change: venire |
|---|---|---|
| hungry | ho fame | mi è venuta fame |
| thirsty | ho sete | mi è venuta sete |
| sleepy | ho sonno | mi è venuto sonno |
| hot | ho caldo | mi è venuto caldo |
| cold | ho freddo | mi è venuto freddo |
Remember that the past participle agrees with the noun: fame and sete are feminine (venuta), sonno, caldo and freddo are masculine (venuto).
Using “Venire” in Different Contexts
To Express “Feeling Like”
Venire can express when you “feel like” doing something. This can be used with expressions like venire da ridere (feel like laughing) or venire da piangere (feel like crying):
Mi viene da ridere.
I feel like laughing.
A Giacomo veniva da piangere.
Giacomo felt like crying.
To Indicate a Craving or Desire
As you might know already, the expression avere voglia di means to crave something or to desire something. Before experiencing that feeling, the craving might “come” to you.
Here is where the expression venire voglia di + present infinitive / noun comes in handy:
Ci è venuta voglia di gelato.
We are craving an ice cream.
Mi viene sempre voglia di abbracciarti quando ti vedo!
I always want to hug you when I see you!
To Mean “Having an Idea”
This structure can describe when an idea or thought comes to you:
Mi è venuta una bella idea.
I had a good idea.
Gli stanno venendo dei dubbi.
He’s having doubts.
To Describe Catching an Illness
When talking about getting sick, like catching a cold or a headache, venire fits right in:
Mi sta venendo il raffreddore.
I am getting a cold.
A Paolo è venuto il mal di testa.
Paolo got a headache.
To Say Something Makes You Hungry
Add fare before venire when something causes the feeling:
Il profumo di pizza mi fa venire fame.
The smell of pizza makes me hungry.
Camminare tutto il giorno ti fa venire sete.
Walking all day makes you thirsty.
To talk about the food itself, see my lessons on the verb mangiare, on how to say “food” in Italian and on how to say “delicious”.
