If you want to learn Italian in Italy, one of the first surprises is how Italians talk about their feelings and needs. Students at our Italian language school in Tuscany are often amused when they discover that in Italian you don’t “are hungry” — you “have hunger”: avere fame.

At first, it sounds like a small grammatical detail. But this little difference opens a door into the Italian way of experiencing life.

In Italian, hunger is something you have, not something you are. It’s seen as a concrete, physical feeling that comes and goes.

You “have hunger” (ho fame), “have thirst” (ho sete), “have sleepiness” (ho sonno), “have cold” (ho freddo). These expressions show how closely the Italian language is connected to the body and the senses. Life is something you taste, feel on your skin, and carry with you.

This is one of the reasons why learning Italian is so fascinating. When you study at an Italian language school for foreigners like Parole e Profumi di Toscana, you don’t just learn verb tables and vocabulary lists. You start to notice how the language reflects a whole worldview.

Take avere fame. You can also say essere affamato—“to be famished”. But this is stronger, more dramatic, more literary. If someone says sono affamato, they are not just a little hungry. They might mean “I’m starving” or use it metaphorically:

• Sono affamato di vita — I’m hungry for life.
• Sono affamato di amore — I’m hungry for love.
• Sono affamato di conoscenza — I’m hungry for knowledge.

In everyday conversation, though, Italians stick to the simple, physical phrase:

Ho fame.

It’s short, warm, and human. You can hear it in a family kitchen, in a bar with friends, or even during a coffee break in our lessons in Chianni, in the Tuscan countryside.

From a grammar point of view, avere fame is a great example of how Italian verbs and nouns combine to express states of being. As you learn Italian in Tuscany, you’ll meet many of these structures:

• Ho freddo — I’m cold (literally: I have cold).
• Ho caldo — I’m hot.
• Ho paura — I’m afraid (I have fear).
• Ho voglia di… — I feel like / I want to…

For English speakers, this is a small mental shift. But once you get used to it, it becomes natural — and it helps you think more like an Italian.

At Parole e Profumi di Toscana, we love using these everyday expressions to teach real Italian. During our Italian courses in Tuscany, grammar is always linked to real life: a walk through the hills, a conversation during lunch, or a shared joke about how many times someone says “Ho fame!” in one day.

Imagine a typical day at our Italian language school in Chianni, Tuscany:

You start with a morning lesson in a small group, surrounded by olive trees and vineyards. As the class goes on, someone smiles and says, “Scusate… ho fame!” Everyone laughs — because it’s almost time for lunch.

The teacher uses the moment to review the structure avere + noun and to play with other expressions: ho freddo, ho sonno, ho sete…

In this way, grammar becomes alive. It’s no longer an abstract rule, but something you feel, like hunger itself.

When you learn Italian in Tuscany, you don’t just add new words to your vocabulary. You discover a language where emotions, needs and desires are expressed as things you have and share with others.

That’s why Italian feels so warm: it’s a language made of bodies, gestures, smells, and tastes — a true living language.

So the next time you feel your stomach rumble while you’re studying Italian, don’t say “I am hungry.” Try the Italian way instead:

Ho fame! Shall we eat something?

It’s a small sentence, but behind it, there’s a whole culture waiting to be discovered.

If you’d like to learn Italian in the heart of Tuscany, surrounded by nature, good food and authentic everyday language, we’d be happy to welcome you to Parole e Profumi di Toscana — your Italian language school in Tuscany.