Hungry in Japanese: "onaka ga suita" or "onaka ga hetta", explained (2024)

March 24, 2020 By Masaki Mori

How to say “hungry” in Japanese

In the Japanese language, there are two major options: “onaka ga suita” and “onaka ga hetta”. Both can be used to say ‘hungry’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain them in detail based on their components. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “onaka ga suita”
• Components of “onaka ga suita”
• Example #1: how to say “I’m hungry” in Japanese
• Definition and meaning of “onaka suita”
• Example #2: how to use “onaka suita”
• Definition and meaning of “onaka ga hetta”
• Example #3: how to use “onaka ga hetta”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “onaka ga suita”

Let me start with the definition and meaning of “onaka ga suita”.

• onaka ga suita – お腹が空いた (おなかがすいた) : a Japanese expression for ‘hungry’. Depending on the situation and context, it can mean ‘I’m hungry’ even without any word referring to the speaker.

Its definition and meaning are quite simple and clear, I think. To understand it a bit more clearly, however, let me explain its components in detail, one by one.

Components of “onaka ga suita”

Below are the components of the expression, “onaka ga suita”.

• onaka – お腹 (おなか) : a Japanese polite expression meaning ‘stomach’. “O” is a prefix used to make its following word polite. It can also be found in other words like “oyasumi” and “okaeri“. “Naka” means ‘stomach”. So, “onaka” is literally a Japanese polite expression for ‘stomach’.
• ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the expression, it is put after “onaka” to make the subject word.
• sui – 空い (すい) : one conjugation of the verb, “suku”, which means ‘to empty’ or ‘to get empty’ in Japanese. In the expression, it is used to express the situation in which a stomach gets empty. It has been conjugated for a better connection with its following word.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb put after a verb, adjective, auxiliary verb, or phrase to make its past tense. Probably, it is well known for a part of Japanese ta form. In the expression, it is put after the conjugated verb, “sui”, to make its past tense, “sui ta”, which literally means ‘to have emptied’ or ‘to have gotten empty’.

From these four components, we can understand that the expression literally means ‘a stomach has emptied’ or ‘a stomach has gotten empty’. So, it can be used to say ‘hungry’ in Japanese.

When we meet new Japanese expressions, we should check their components in detail like in this case. Normally, components help us a lot to understand meanings of expressions they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “onaka ga suita” through the detailed check above.

Then, let me explain how to use this expression through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to say “I’m hungry” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it works as a topic marker after the pronoun, “watashi”. The phrase, “watashi wa”, is often used as a topic marker and translated into English as ‘for me’.

This is a typical usage of “onaka ga suita”. In this example, it is put after the phrase, “watashi wa”. So, we can clearly understand whose stomach is empty.

In more casual situations, we can omit the particle in the expression. Actually, Japanese native speakers quite often omit particles in casual conversations with their friends and family members. So, we can use the following expression instead.

Definition and meaning of “onaka suita”

Below are the definition and meaning of the casual expression.

• onaka suita – お腹空いた (おなかすいた) : a casual expression of “onaka ga suita”.

This expression doesn’t contain the case particle, “ga”, so sounds a bit more casual. The last example above can be paraphrased with this casual expression as follows.

Example #2: how to use “onaka suita”

This is a typical usage of “onaka suita”. To have the same degree of politeness in the sentence, “wa” after “watashi” has also been omitted. Japanese native speakers often use this expression to say “I’m hungry” in a casual way in Japanese.

Definition and meaning of “onaka ga hetta”

Next, then, let me explain the other way to say ‘hungry’ in Japanese.

• onaka ga hetta – お腹が減った (おなかがへった) : a Japanese expression for ‘hungry’. Depending on the situation and context, it can mean ‘I’m hungry’ even without any word referring to the speaker.

It has the same meaning as “onaka ga suita” does. In fact, Japanese native speakers normally use these two expressions in the same way. They rarely differentiate one form the other. The only one difference is its verb part: “het”. Let me explain this in more detail.

• het – 減っ (へっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “heru”, which means ‘to decrease’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with the auxiliary verb, “ta”.

From this verb, we can understand that “onaka ga hetta” is a Japanese expression for ‘(the food content of) stomach gets decreased’. So, it can be used in the same way as “onaka ga suita” is.

Then, let me paraphrase the first example above with the new expression as follows.

Example #3: how to use “onaka ga hetta”

This is a typical usage of “onaka ga hetta”. Strictly speaking, its meaning is not really the same as that of “onaka ga suita”, but both can be used in the same way.

In casual situations, “onaka ga hetta” can be shortened to “onaka hetta”. It’s worth knowing, I think.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the two major ways to say ‘hungry’ in Japanese. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• onaka ga suita – お腹が空いた (おなかがすいた) : a Japanese expression for ‘hungry’. Depending on the situation and context, it can mean ‘I’m hungry’ even without any word referring to the speaker.
• onaka suita – お腹空いた (おなかすいた) : a casual expression of “onaka ga suita”. Japanese native speakers quite often use this in casual conversations with their friends and family members.
• onaka ga hetta – お腹が減った (おなかがへった) : a Japanese expression for ‘hungry’. Depending on the situation and context, it can mean ‘I’m hungry’ even without any word referring to the speaker. It can be used in the same way as “onaka ga suita” is.
• onaka hetta – お腹減った (おなかへった) : a casual expression of “onaka ga hetta”. It can be used in the same way as “onaka suita” is.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.