Breakdown of Habt ihr Hunger?
haben
to have
ihr
you (informal plural)
der Hunger
the hunger
Hunger haben
to be hungry
Questions & Answers about Habt ihr Hunger?
Why does the sentence start with Habt instead of Hast?
Habt is the form of haben (to have) that goes with ihr (the informal plural "you"). You use Habt ihr when talking to two or more people, like asking "Do you guys have...?". If you were asking just one person informally, you would use Hast du.
Why do we use a form of haben (to have) when the English translation says "Are" (to be)?
In English, we say we are hungry using the verb "to be" and an adjective. In German, you say you have hunger using the verb haben and the noun Hunger. So literally, this sentence is asking "Have you guys hunger?".
Why is Hunger capitalized?
In German, all nouns (people, places, things, and ideas) are capitalized. Because German expresses being hungry as "having hunger," Hunger is functioning as a noun here, so it must start with a capital letter.
How do we know this is a question just by looking at the word order?
To ask a yes/no question in German, you simply move the verb to the very front of the sentence. Putting Habt before ihr changes the statement Ihr habt (You guys have) into the question Habt ihr? (Do you guys have?).