Famished? How To Talk About Being Hungry in Spanish

The most common way to say “I’m hungry” in Spanish is tengo hambre. It’s a great expression to learn for when you want to experience the amazing food and drink your Spanish-speaking destination has to offer. Spending time with friends or as an invited guest? You’ll want to be able to answer the question ¿Tienes hambre? (Are you hungry?) in Spanish.

To use this expression effectively, you’ll need the conjugation of the verb tener (to have), which might surprise you as you learn Spanish. Find out how to let people know you’re hungry, ask if others are hungry, and respond appropriately when you’ve had enough or want some more.

How to say ‘I’m hungry’ using tener

In Spanish, you can express some feelings with tener (to have) instead of “to be,” which is more common in English. Tengo hambre, translated word-for-word, would be “I have hunger.” Using tener in this expression sounds completely natural in Spanish.

Tengo hambre. = I’m hungry. (I have hunger)
¿Tienen hambre? = Are you hungry? (Do you all have hunger?)
Sí. Tenemos hambre. = Yes, we are hungry. (Yes, we have hunger)

To help you talk about anyone’s state of hunger, the complete tener conjugation in the present tense is shown in the table.

tener (to have) present tense

yo tengo	I have	nosotros tenemos	we have
tú tienes	you have (informal)	vosotros tenéis	you have (informal plural, Spain only)
él/ella tieneusted tiene	he/she hasyou have (formal)	ellos/ellas tienenustedes tienen	they haveyou have (plural)

You’ll want to take care with the Spanish pronunciation of hambre (hunger), since it looks so similar to the words hombre (man) and hombro (shoulder). Take a bit of time to practice the difference between the initial vowels and you’ll never confuse them.

El hombre tiene hambre. The man is hungry.

There are several other expressions that use “have” in Spanish instead of “to be,” such as tengo sed (I’m thirsty).

What to say if you’re not hungry

Imagine you’ve been invited to someone’s home, a meeting, or a social event. You may or may not wish to accept an offer of food. You might not be hungry, or you might want to politely decline for other reasons.

A very straightforward way to tell a friend that you’re not hungry in Spanish is to simply put no in front of the conjugated verb tener, the main way to negate many verbs in Spanish.

¿Tienes hambre? = Are you hungry?
No. No tengo hambre. = No, I’m not hungry.

In a formal context, you might want to respond more politely or give a reason.

¿Usted tiene hambre? = Are you hungry?
Comí suficiente. Estoy bien. = I’ve eaten enough. I’m fine.
Estoy satisfecho/satisfecha, gracias. = I’m satisfied/I’ve eaten enough, thank you.
No, gracias. No tengo mucha hambre. = No, thanks. I’m not very hungry.

If something looks really appetizing and you change your mind, or if you’re just happy to experience all of the culinary delights of your location, you can always try a bit more of a dish or suggest grabbing a snack.

No comí suficiente. Tengo hambre. = I didn’t eat enough. I’m hungry.
De hecho, cambié de idea. Me gustaría probar un poco. = Actually, I changed my mind. I would like to try a little.

Once you know how to say whether or not you’re hungry, learn how to order food in Spanish so that you’ll have the best meal experience possible, and show off your new language skills.

When to use the adjective hambriento

While tener hambre is a very common and natural way to express that someone is hungry in Spanish, the adjective hambriento (hungry) is also comprehensible and common. You may even have seen it in the Spanish translation of La Oruga Muy Hambrienta (The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Spanish).

Hambriento is an adjective used with estar to express a feeling, and will follow Spanish grammar rules for adjectives by agreeing in gender and number with the noun that it’s describing. It can be figurative in addition to meaning “very hungry” or “wanting to eat.”

Carlos está hambriento de conocimiento. = Carlos is hungry for knowledge.
Las jugadoras estaban hambrientas de victoria. = The players were hungry for a victory.

The word hambriento is also the word for “starving” when it refers to people who literally haven’t gotten enough food to eat. An even higher degree of “starving” in a literal sense would be famélico.

Donamos comida a los hambrientos. = We donate food to the hungry.
Durante la guerra, había mucha gente famélica. = During the war, there were many starving people.

Slang and idiomatic ways to say ‘hungry’ in Spanish

Maybe you don’t want to wait for someone to ask “are you hungry?” in Spanish. Perhaps it doesn’t feel like enough to say tengo hambre, and you want to emphasize that you’re famished. Travelers may need to communicate when adapting to different meal schedules, like the late dinner in Spain. Try out a few slang ways to get your point across.

Spanish	English Literal Translation	English Meaning
Estoy hambreado/hambreada.	I’m hungry.	I’m hungry. (Latin America)
¡Estoy muerto/muerta de hambre!	I’m dead of hunger!	I’m really hungry.
¡Me comería una vaca!	I would eat a cow!	I could eat a horse!
¡Me muero de hambre!	I’m dying of hunger!	I’m really hungry.
Quiero algo para picar.	I want something to pick.	I want something to nibble on. I want to grab a bite to eat.
sentir apetito	to feel appetite	To be somewhat hungry
tener ganas de comer	to feel like eating	To want to eat
tener un hambre canina	to have a canine hunger	To be very hungry
Tienes cara de hambre.	You have a face of hunger.	You look hungry.
un hambre voraz	a voracious appetite	a large appetite

Rosetta Stone has a lot of quality resources about food in Spanish because it’s such a fun way to learn to communicate. Sharing food can unlock cultural knowledge and authentic conversation around a table. Food, how it’s prepared, and the flavors and traditions surrounding meals and celebrations are vital to cultural identity.

If you’re hungry for a meal, say tengo hambre, make a plan, and it can feed your hambre de conocimiento (hunger for knowledge) as well.

Immerse Yourself in Spanish