/ˈaɪ̯nən ˈbɛːʁənˌhʊŋɐ ˈhaːbn̩/ lit. ‘to have a bear’s hunger’
German idiom, colloquial. To be extremely hungry.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Einen Bärenhunger haben
?
Everyday spoken German, the thing you announce when you walk into the kitchen: “Ich habe einen Bärenhunger!” It works in any tense (“ich hatte einen Bärenhunger”) and with “bekommen” for the moment the hunger hits.
Einen Bärenhunger haben
in real sentences
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Ich habe einen Bärenhunger!
I’m as hungry as a bear.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Der Bergsteiger hatte einen Bärenhunger.
The mountaineer was as hungry as a wolf.
Tatoeba, sentence by MUIRIEL, translation by keira_n, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Einen Bärenhunger haben
come from?
German Wiktionary treats it as “Hunger” with “Bären-” used as an intensifier, the same way the language builds “Bärenkräfte” (a bear’s strength). The picture is a bear fresh out of hibernation, though no source dates the word or ties it to any particular story. Duden and DWDS both list it as colloquial.
Mistakes learners make with Einen Bärenhunger haben
Saying “ich bin einen Bärenhunger” or “ich bin bärenhungrig” by analogy with English “I am hungry”: the noun needs “haben”, so it’s “ich habe einen Bärenhunger”.
Other German idioms like Einen Bärenhunger haben
Spot a mistake in Einen Bärenhunger haben
?
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