hambre vs hambriento

Question

when do I use each of them?

Answer 1

To my understanding:

Hambriento- hungry- adjective

Hambre- hunger- noun

With the exception that the normal way of expressing “be hungry” in Spanish is “have hunger”:

Lobos hambrientos- hungry wolves

Tengo hambre- literally I have hunger, but said when an English speaker would normally say I am hungry.

So one could say:

Los lobos que tienen hambre- the wolves that have hunger literally, but means the wolves that are hungry.

But more natural just to say los lobos hambrientos here.

Hambriento can function as a noun, as can many adjectives in Spanish, to mean the hungry one, hungry/starving people in plural

Los hambrientos- the hungry

Hambre and Hambruna can both serve to mean a time of hunger or starvation, a famine.

There might be other usages I am forgetting- but the main difference between English and Spanish is "be hungry" is replaced by "tener hambre" (have hunger) when it is be as opposed to a direct adjective.

By the way, it is possible to say estoy hambriento (I think it may have a stronger sense), it is just not the most common, normal way to express the idea:

I'll vote for that! - Daniela2041, Jun 10, 2016