"j'ai très faime"

Question

"J'ai très faime !"   is literally, "I have very hunger" which seems odd.  I thought it would be "J'ai beaucoup de faime !" or I have lots of hunger.  Why?

Accepted Answer

Hi Craig, 
This is the Kwiziq lesson you need for to be hungry/to be thirsty -
Avoir faim / soif = To be hungry / thirsty
If you want to say I am very hungry, you would say 
J'ai très faim 
because
J'ai faim = I am hungry 
you could also say 
J'ai très soif = I am very thirsty
or even 
J'ai très froid/chaud = I am very very cold/hot
because 
J'ai froid/chaud = I am cold/hot
Hope this helps!

Answer

“Avoir faim” is a verbal expression, and separating the words to translate to English is not necessarily a fruitful approach - using the expression with an adverb is acceptable in current usage according to Larousse. It is certainly very common usage in everyday speech, and noted as ‘familiar usage’ in Robert also.

Note Larousse under “Difficultés” https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/faim/32696 https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/faim https://www.wordreference.com/fren/faim