mamá tengo hambre
/mama tenɡo ambɾe/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "mom I am hungry" is expressed as mamá tengo hambre.
This phrase is used by a child to tell their mother that they want food. While mamá tengo hambre is a direct way to state the feeling, you can also use the more intense phrase Me muero de hambre, mamá to say "I'm starving, mom!"
How does it change in a sentence?
Therefore, you say you "have hunger" rather than "are hungry".
How do you pronounce it?
/mama tenɡo ambɾe/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid saying estoy hambre. This is a common mistake for English speakers who translate "I am" literally, but it is grammatically incorrect in Spanish.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, children might use the diminutive mamita instead of mamá when asking for food to sound more affectionate or persuasive.
- The word hambre is a distant relative of the English word 'famine'. Both stem from the Latin 'fames', describing an extreme state of deprivation.
- While mamá is the standard term, some regions use mami not just for infants, but as a lifelong term of endearment for a mother.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hambre, mamá, CC BY-SA 4.0.
