Learn Italian: Non ho fame, ma ho voglia di uno spuntino. - I am not hungry, but I am in the mood for a snack.

Non ho fame, ma ho voglia di uno spuntino.

I am not hungry, but I am in the mood for a snack.

Breakdown of Non ho fame, ma ho voglia di uno spuntino.

a / an (masculine special)

lo spuntino

the snack

Questions & Answers about Non ho fame, ma ho voglia di uno spuntino.

Why does the Italian sentence use ho (I have) instead of 'I am' for being hungry?

In Italian, we use the verb avere (to have) for many physical sensations where English uses 'to be'. Instead of saying 'I am hungry', Italians literally say 'I have hunger' (ho fame).

How does the phrase ho voglia di work?

Avere voglia di is another common expression using avere. It literally means 'to have desire of', but it is the natural way to say 'to feel like' or 'to be in the mood for' something. You will always see it followed by di (of) before the thing you want, like uno spuntino (a snack) in this sentence.

Why is the word for 'a' uno instead of un before spuntino?

The masculine word for 'a' or 'an' changes based on the sound that follows it. Because spuntino starts with an 's' followed by a consonant (the letter 'p'), you must use uno to make it easier to pronounce.