Home/Vocabulary/“I’m hungry”
A1How to sayya khochú yest

How to say “I’m hungry” in Russian

Russian usually says “I want to eat” rather than “I am hungry” — and the adjective version has two forms.

Quick answer

Я хочу́ есть

ya khochú yest — literally “I want to eat”

The options

Я хочу́ есть.I’m hungry.
Я хочу́ пить.I’m thirsty.
Я го́лоден.I’m hungry. — a man
Я голодна́.I’m hungry. — a woman
Дава́й пое́дим.Let’s eat.
Я нае́лся. / Я нае́лась.I’m full.

Two ways, one meaning

Я хочу́ есть is the everyday version and always safe. Я го́лоден / голодна́ is a short adjective and sounds slightly more formal or dramatic.

What you hear back

Что бу́дешь?What would you like?
Пойдём в кафе́.Let’s go to a café.
Сейча́с пригото́влю.I’ll cook something now.

Typical mistakes

Я име́ю го́лод.

Я хочу́ есть.

A word-for-word translation nobody says.

Я го́лоден — said by a woman

Я голодна́

Short adjectives agree with gender, and the stress moves.

Check yourself

A woman says she is hungry.

Feminine short form with the stress on the ending: голодна́.

Want it all in one place?

Russian Basics has Cyrillic, the cases and 1,000 words in one PDF — stress marked on every word, exercises with answers.

Get the guide — $19