Expressing Hunger/Thirst with TER

In Portuguese, physical sensations are often nouns, not adjectives. In English, "hungry" describes you. In Portuguese, fome (hunger) is a thing you have. To express this, we use the verb ter. This verb is one of the most important in the language. You will use it for your age, your family, and your lunch. The grammar is very consistent. You conjugate ter to match the person. Then you add the sensation noun. It’s a two-step process that never changes. Even if you are very hungry, the structure stays the same. You just add an intensifier like muita. Yes, even native speakers mess this up when they learn English! They often say "I have hunger" in English because of this rule. Think of it like a grammar exchange program. You are learning their logic now.

1. 1Start with the subject (Eu, Você, Ele, etc.).
2. 2Conjugate the verb ter in the present tense.
3. 3Add the noun representing the sensation (fome, sede, sono).
4. 4(Optional) Add muita for "very" or "a lot of."
5. 5For example: Eu + tenho + fome. To make it stronger: Eu tenho muita fome. Note that muita is feminine because fome and sede are feminine nouns. If you are talking about frio (cold), you use muito. It’s like choosing the right shoes for your outfit. It has to match!

Use this pattern for all basic survival needs. Use it when you are in a restaurant and the waiter is taking too long. Use it in the desert when you need water. Use it at 3 PM when your coffee wears off and you are sleepy. It’s perfect for job interviews when you want to say you are in a hurry (ter pressa). It’s also used for temperature. If the office AC is too cold, you tem frio. If the summer sun is beating down, you tem calor. It covers a wide range of "states of being" that English treats as adjectives. Think of it as the "Human Condition" toolkit. If your body is complaining about something, you probably need ter to talk about it.

Don't use ter for temporary emotions. If you are happy, sad, or angry, use estar. You don't "have" happiness in this grammatical sense; you "are" happy. Also, don't use it for permanent traits. If you are tall or smart, use ser. This rule is strictly for physical sensations and specific states. Using ter for "I am happy" (tenho feliz) is a quick way to sound like a malfunctioning robot. It’s a grammar traffic light: ter for physical needs, estar for moods. Keep them in their own lanes to avoid a linguistic pile-up.

The biggest mistake is using sou or estou. Students often say estou fome because it translates literally from English. This is the #1 error for beginners. Another mistake is forgetting the gender of the intensifier. People say muito fome instead of muita fome. Remember, fome is a lady! She needs feminine adjectives. Also, watch out for the verb conjugation. Eu tem is wrong; it must be Eu tenho. It’s like putting diesel in a petrol car. It might look similar, but you won't get very far. Stay focused on the tenho, tem, temos forms.

In English, we use "to be" for almost everything. "I am 20," "I am hungry," "I am cold." Portuguese is more diverse. It splits these into "to have" and "to be." Spanish and French do the same thing. If you know a little bit of those, you have a head start! English is actually the weird one here. Most Romance languages prefer to "possess" their hunger. Think of it like owning a pet. The hunger is there, you are taking care of it, but it isn't *you*. This distinction helps you separate your identity from your stomach's demands. It’s quite philosophical if you think about it too much!