Breakdown of Мы хотим поесть, мы очень голодны!
мы
we
очень
very
хотеть
to want
поесть
to eat (perfective)
голодный
hungry
Questions & Answers about Мы хотим поесть, мы очень голодны!
Why does the sentence use голодны instead of the regular adjective голодные?
Голодны is a short-form adjective. Russian often uses these short forms to describe temporary states or feelings, like being hungry right now. The regular, long-form adjective голодные would imply a permanent characteristic, like being a generally starving group of people.
How does the word голодны change if it is just one man or one woman speaking?
Short adjectives agree in gender and number with the person they describe. Since мы (we) is plural, we use the plural form голодны. If a man is saying 'I am hungry,' he would use the masculine singular form: я голоден. A woman would use the feminine singular form: я голодна.
Why use поесть instead of есть?
Both verbs mean 'to eat,' but поесть is perfective and есть is imperfective. Here, the speakers want to eat a meal to satisfy their hunger (focusing on the completed result), so the perfective поесть is the most natural choice. If they were talking about the general, continuous process of eating, they would use есть.
Is it common to use голодны to say 'we are hungry' in everyday Russian?
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