How to Say “Are You Hungry?” in Portuguese

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você está com fome?
To ask "are you hungry?" in Portuguese, you say você está com fome?
The phrase is used to inquire if someone feels a need to eat food. The noun fome refers to the state of hunger.

What does it mean word for word?

Literally, você está com fome? translates to "are you with hunger?" because Portuguese uses the preposition com (with) to express physical states such as hunger or thirst.

Which one should you use?

You may encounter tu estás com fome? in many parts of Brazil and in Portugal as an informal alternative. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, the contraction Tá com fome? is also very common.

Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?

Você está com fome? is an informal way to ask the question. For more formal situations, you can use Está com fome? or address someone with more respect using O senhor/senhora está com fome? (Sir/Madam, are you hungry?).

Is it said differently in some regions?

The contraction Tá com fome? is more common in Brazil.

How does it change in a sentence?

To ask if a group of people is hungry, you can use vocês estão com fome? (are you [plural] hungry?) or estamos com fome? (are we hungry?).

Did you know?

  • The pronoun você used in the phrase has a remarkably humble history, originally descending from the highly formal 'vossa mercee', meaning 'your mercy'.
  • Using com for hunger is part of a broader pattern where Portuguese describes many physical sensations, like sleep or cold, as things one is 'with'.

Examples in context

  • Você está com fome agora?
    Are you hungry now?

Example conversation

Juliana and Gabriel are deciding what to do for lunch.

  1. Juliana

    Gabriel, você está com fome?
    Gabriel, are you hungry?
  2. Gabriel

    Sim, estou com muita fome.
    Yes, I am very hungry.
  3. Juliana

    Quer comer alguma coisa?
    Do you want to eat something?
  4. Gabriel

    Vamos comer um sanduíche.
    Let's eat a sandwich.

Sources

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Ashley Rosalie
Ashley RosalieHelp make this guide better. Spot a mistake, know another way to say it, or have an example from real life? Share it below.
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