J'ai faim

Question

This one was confusing because in the placement quiz they ask you to translate "I am hungry", but then mark it wrong when you select "Je suis...". Then they say the correct translation is "J'ai faim". This is problematic because "J'ai faim" literally means "I have hunger". They need to be accurate with the literal translations in these cases because that's what clues you in to how you should word the phrase.

Accepted Answer

French people "are" not hungry, they "have" hunger. That's why the only correct way to express this is: J'ai faim. A literal translation to either language would be incorrect.

Answer

Hi Abraham,Just to add to Chris's point.It is important to be aware of être usage when referring to personal needs or feelings.You will receive some mirth if you try to use être to express (for example) "I am hot or cold" -- I just mention this to save you some potential embarrassment.Jim

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Bonjour All,Indeed, Chris and Jim are both correct here. @Jim, thank you for mentioning this specific usage of "être", which is very useful indeed ;-) (It has made me laugh a lot - Thank you for that!! )Bonne journée !

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Yes, Céline - and don’t forget the popular “Je suis fini’ at the end of a good meal - French hosts and restaurant staff just love that misuse of être too !

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Abraham French is very different from English is not only in this situation but when you talk about age you own it. This is similar to the current situation, where you own your feelings.

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J'ai faim because j is in front of an vowel

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To translate a statement, it's implied that it's the meaning of the statement that's being translated, not a word-for-word translation. There's no confusion here, in my opinion.

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Why is my answer wrong if I selected "J'ai" and not "je suis" for faim?

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Bonjour Harshala,As explained above, "avoir faim" is used to express "to be hungry". In French, we use "avoir" instead of "être" as Chris explained: "French people "are" not hungry, they "have" hunger."I hope this is helpful.Bonne journée !