Ela comeu a fruta proibida na ilha

What does “morrendo de fome” mean in Portuguese?

Morrer de plus a noun is how Portuguese exaggerates. Estou morrendo de fome is “I’m starving,” not a medical statement. The frame is highly productive with many feelings and reactions: morrer de rir (to die laughing), morrer de medo (to be terrified), morrer de vergonha, morrer de saudades. Learn it once and you can intensify a wide range of feelings.

Brazil says estou morrendo de fome; Portugal builds the progressive differently — estou a morrer de fome. The same de marks the cause after other reaction verbs: chorar de alegria, tremer de frio, pular de felicidade. For hunger you will also hear estou com uma fome! with the sentence deliberately left hanging.