Onaka ga suita
Onaka means stomach and suku means to become empty. Because the emptying has already happened, the natural form is the past: suita, or sukimashita in polite speech.
In casual speech the particle ga often drops, and a drawn-out ending adds feeling.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お腹がすいた。 | Onaka ga suita. | I'm hungry |
| お腹がすきました。 | Onaka ga sukimashita. | I'm hungry: polite |
| お腹すいた〜。 | Onaka suita~. | I'm so hungry: casual, drawn out |
| お腹すいてる？ | Onaka suiteru? | Are you hungry?: casual |
| お腹すいていませんか。 | Onaka suite imasen ka. | Aren't you hungry?: polite |
Starving, rumbling and rough
Pekopeko is an onomatopoeic word for an empty stomach, and it is friendly and a little cute. Harahetta uses hara, a rougher word for belly, and heru, to decrease, and it sounds casual and masculine.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お腹ぺこぺこ。 | Onaka pekopeko. | I'm starving |
| もうお腹がぺこぺこです。 | Mō onaka ga pekopeko desu. | I'm absolutely starving now |
| 腹減った。 | Hara hetta. | I'm starving: rough, masculine |
| お腹が鳴った。 | Onaka ga natta. | My stomach rumbled |
| 小腹がすいた。 | Kobara ga suita. | I'm a bit peckish |
Full, or not hungry
Full uses ippai, which means full of or a lot. For not hungry, use the te iru form in the negative, because it describes a current state.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お腹いっぱい。 | Onaka ippai. | I'm full |
| もうお腹いっぱいです。 | Mō onaka ippai desu. | I'm already full |
| もう食べられません。 | Mō taberaremasen. | I can't eat any more |
| あまりお腹がすいていません。 | Amari onaka ga suite imasen. | I'm not very hungry |
| さっき食べたばかりです。 | Sakki tabeta bakari desu. | I've only just eaten |
Thirsty
Thirsty follows the same logic as hungry: nodo ga kawaita, my throat has dried, in the past tense. Karakara adds the sense of parched.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 喉が渇いた。 | Nodo ga kawaita. | I'm thirsty |
| 喉が渇きました。 | Nodo ga kawakimashita. | I'm thirsty: polite |
| 喉カラカラ。 | Nodo karakara. | My throat is parched |
| 何か飲みたい。 | Nanika nomitai. | I want something to drink |
Suggesting food
Often I'm hungry is really a suggestion. Japanese tends to make that suggestion directly, with a negative question or a shall-we form, instead of hinting.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 何か食べに行きませんか。 | Nanika tabe ni ikimasen ka. | Shall we go and eat something? |
| お昼、どうする？ | O-hiru, dō suru? | What shall we do for lunch? |
| ラーメンでも食べない？ | Rāmen demo tabenai? | Want to get ramen or something? |
| そろそろお昼にしましょうか。 | Sorosoro o-hiru ni shimashō ka. | Shall we break for lunch? |
| 何が食べたい？ | Nani ga tabetai? | What do you feel like eating? |
Cravings and reactions around food
Hunger talk rarely stops at I'm hungry. People name what they are craving, react to a smell drifting from a shop, or say that watching a food programme has made them hungry. These lines keep the conversation going and often lead straight to a decision about where to eat.
The pattern ga tabetai, I want to eat, is the backbone, and nan da ka, somehow, softens a sudden craving so it sounds natural rather than demanding. Mitara, when I saw it, explains what triggered the feeling.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 甘いものが食べたい。 | Amai mono ga tabetai. | I want something sweet |
| なんだかラーメンが食べたくなってきた。 | Nan da ka rāmen ga tabetaku natte kita. | I'm starting to feel like ramen for some reason |
| いい匂い！お腹すいてきた。 | Ii nioi! Onaka suite kita. | That smells good! I'm getting hungry |
| テレビを見てたら、お腹がすいてきました。 | Terebi o mitetara, onaka ga suite kimashita. | Watching TV has made me hungry |
| 朝ごはんを食べ損ねました。 | Asagohan o tabesokonemashita. | I missed breakfast |
Hungry talk by situation
The general rule is that the more formal the situation, the more you turn hunger into a suggestion or leave it unsaid.
| Situation | Natural line | Note |
|---|---|---|
| With friends before lunch | A casual I'm starving | Pekopeko or the drawn-out hungry |
| With colleagues | A shall-we-break-for-lunch suggestion | Suggesting is smoother than announcing |
| Visiting someone's home | Wait to be offered food | Saying you are hungry can sound like a request |
| After a big meal as a guest | Full, then thanks for the meal | Pairs fullness with appreciation |
From hungry to ordering
Talking about hunger usually leads straight into choosing and ordering. Unihongo's beginner missions Ramen Ticket Machine and Order at a Café, and the elementary First Round at an Izakaya, let you practise ordering food with an AI Sensei in an immersive 3D classroom.
Unihongo's learn-by-playing vocabulary games help keep food words such as o-hiru, teishoku and nomimono ready for those moments.