A quick question regarding Hambre and the phrasebook

Question

Hi everyone (waves)

I just wanted to check something regarding being hungry and some of the entries in the phrasebook, in case it is actually my own confusion and not an error.

Hambre is feminine so therefore to say I'm very/really hungry should be tengo mucha hambre so that the gender of the indefinite adjective correctly matches the feminine noun, right? The same would apply to sed for thirsty as that is also a feminine noun.

It's just in the phrasebook, there are some examples which state tengo mucho hambre which is pairing the masculine indefinite adjective with a feminine noun. I am assuming (perhaps wrongly!) that it is the phrasebook entries which are incorrect and not me? Would somebody be able to clarify this for me please?

Thanks Grace

Answer 1

The R A E has the example of "Tener un hambre irresistible."

What's going on...has the world of gender agreement gone mad?!

Remember that words like "hambre" which begin with a stressed /a/ sound carry the indefinite article "el" (and often the apocopated forms of the determinants "un," "algún," and "ningún"). In any case, the word "hambre" is indeed a feminine noun and as such should be accompanied by the feminine adjective "mucha."

If you do a quick search, you will find that this subject has been discussed in a couple of previous threads:

mucho/mucha hambre

mucho/mucha hambre again

Thanks so much, Ira, I'm not sure why this didn't occur to me. I'm getting slow in my old age? - --Mariana--, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 2

Hi, Grace.

You are 100% correct. I will contact the PB moderator to fix those errors. Thanks and good catch!

Thanks Mariana. You know sometimes you think you have grasped something and you actually haven't! I thought I might of been having one of 'those' moments!! - Lachicafeliz, Oct 14, 2011

No, you're doing great to catch that error. - --Mariana--, Oct 14, 2011

Answer 3

I fixed the "mucha hambre" in the Phrasebook, but now I wonder about the examples in the dictionary:

Un buen hambre no hay pan duro (Prov) = hunger is the best sauce; (de comida) beggars can't be choosers (de placeres)

Shouldn't this be "una buena hambre"?

Anyone?

Gekko, are you still out there?

E D I T

The R A E has the example of "Tener un hambre irresistible."

What's going on...has the world of gender agreement gone mad?!

Maybe it's one of those "el agua" sort of things? Language isn't always rational. - pesta, Oct 14, 2011