In today’s lesson we’ll look at the feminine noun faim, which means “hunger”. When combined with the verb avoir (to have), it means “to be hungry”. This word made it onto my word-of-the day list as I’ve heard students make the mistake of pronouncing the final M countless times. The M is silent. Don’t pronounce it! End the word on the nasal IM (ɛ̃) sound.
faim – [fɛ̃]
hungry, hunger
Word origin
The modern French noun faim comes from fames in Latin.
Example sentences
Avoir faim = to be hungry
In French, avoir faim literally means “to have hungry”. Hence, j’ai faim (literally I have hunger) means “I’m hungry”. Saying “je suis faim” is be wrong.
Oh là là, j’ai faim ! Qu’est-ce que j’ai envie de manger ?
Oh my! I’m hungry! What do I want to eat?
The expression avoir une faim de loup (literally to have the hunger of a wolf) means “to be famished” or “to be starving”. The verb bouffer is slang for manger (to eat).
J’ai une faim de loup ! Je vais tout bouffer !
I’m famished! I’m going to eat everything!
This final sentence uses faim in the sense of hunger or “world hunger”.
La faim est le problème pricipal dans les pays en voie de développement.
Hunger is the main problem in the developing world.
Related lessons
References
