Why Spanish says “I have hunger”
Feelings you have and weather that makes, and why “very” becomes mucho
Where English says “I am hungry”, Spanish says tengo hambre, literally “I have hunger”. Hunger, thirst, sleepiness and fear are things you have in Spanish, with tener, and heat and cold are things the weather makes, with hacer: hace calor, it is hot.
Because hambre and calor are nouns, things rather than describing words, “very” is not muy but mucho: tengo mucha hambre, I am very hungry.
= I am hungry (I have hunger)
On this page
Which feelings do you “have” in Spanish?
English describes you: you are hungry. Spanish names the feeling as a thing and says you have it.
| Spanish | Word for word | In English |
|---|---|---|
| tener hambre | to have hunger | to be hungry |
| tener sed | to have thirst | to be thirsty |
| tener sueño | to have sleepiness | to be sleepy |
| tener miedo | to have fear | to be afraid |
| tener cuidado | to have care | to be careful |
In a sentence, only tener changes: Ella tiene miedo de que cancelen el vuelo, she is afraid that they will cancel the flight. Si no tenemos cuidado, estaremos perdiendo el tiempo, if we are not careful, we will be wasting time.
Age works the same way: you have years. Vas a tener veinte años el mes que viene, you are going to be twenty next month.
What about hot and cold weather?
For the weather, the thing is made rather than had, with hacer, to make or do. Hace calor, it is hot. Hace frío, it is cold.
- ¿Te pones un abrigo cuando hace frío? Do you put on a coat when it is cold?
- ¡Ponte la chaqueta, hace frío afuera! Put on your jacket, it is cold outside.
That is for the weather. For how you feel, it is tener again: tener frío, to be cold, and tener calor, to be hot (see this University of Texas list of tener expressions). Never estoy frío for “I am cold”.
Why is it mucha hambre, not muy hambre?
The one thing to remember
Hambre, sed, sueño, calor and frío are nouns. Before a noun, “very” is mucho, and it matches the noun: mucha hambre, mucho calor.
muy
Before a describing word
- muy larga, very long
- Never changes
La película es muy larga.The film is very long.
mucho
Before a thing (a noun)
- mucha hambre, mucho sueño
- Matches the noun: mucho, mucha
Tengo mucha hambre.I am very hungry.
This is where English points the wrong way. In English, “hungry” is a describing word, so “very hungry” sounds like muy. In Spanish the feeling is a noun, a thing you have, and a thing takes mucho: Tengo mucho sueño, I am very sleepy. Los niños tienen mucha sed, the children are very thirsty. Hace mucho calor hoy, it is very hot today. Hace mucho frío en la montaña, it is very cold in the mountains.
It is mucha with hambre and sed, and mucho with sueño, calor and frío, because mucho matches the noun it goes with.
Does it work in other tenses?
Yes: the expression stays the same, and tener or hacer takes the tense. Tenía miedo de la oscuridad de niño, I used to be afraid of the dark as a child.
How nemiria teaches this
Tener and hacer have their full tables in nemiria, in every tense, with tap-to-hear audio. The mucha hambre and mucho calor rule is part of the Muy vs Mucho pair in the Word Pairs topic, where Test asks you to choose or type the right word and Apply puts it in real sentences.
How to practise
Learn them as whole phrases. Tengo hambre, tengo sed, tengo sueño, hace calor, hace frío. They are short, and you will use them every day.
Then add mucho. Say each one again with “very”: tengo mucha hambre, hace mucho frío. It trains the noun habit at the same time.
Read next
Muy vs Mucho, with tengo mucha hambre and hace mucho calor, is in nemiria’s Word Pairs topic at Intermediate, part of Premium. Get it on the App Store.