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Prepositions after adjectives

How to use “starving” correctly

Starving commonly takes for before a noun and to before an infinitive. Starving in usually introduces a place or situation.

Quick answer

Choosing the right preposition after “starving”

Use starving for with nouns to express strong desire, starving to with verbs, and starving in when describing location or conditions.

I am starving for fresh coffee.
She was starving to see her family.
Many people were starving in the drought area.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
starving for + noun

Expressing strong desire

Use for before things people want very strongly.

They are starving for attention.
2
starving to + verb

Expressing eagerness to act

Use to before an infinitive verb.

He was starving to travel again.
3
starving in + place/situation

Describing location or conditions

In introduces where the hunger happens.

Families were starving in remote villages.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
starving for
She is starving for a break.
strongly wanting something
starving to
I am starving to eat.
very eager to do something
starving in
People are starving in the camp.
suffering hunger in a place or situation
starving with
They were starving with no food available.
with introduces accompanying circumstances

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using “for” before a verb

Use to before verbs, not for.

✕ I am starving for sleep. ✓ I am starving to sleep.

Using “to” before a noun

Use for before nouns and noun phrases.

✕ She is starving to attention. ✓ She is starving for attention.

Confusing location with desire

In refers to place or conditions, not the object desired.

✕ He is starving in water. ✓ He is starving for water.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. They were starving ___ help after the storm.
2. I am starving ___ get home.
3. Many animals were starving ___ the dry region.

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Frequently asked questions

Can “starving” mean very eager, not hungry?

Yes. In informal English, it often means strongly wanting something.

Is “starving to death” correct?

Yes. It means dying from lack of food.

Can I say “starving for doing something”?

No. Use starving to do something.

sacred-to-in-by-of, for "sad for" or "sad about"? "safe for", "safe from" or "safe in"? sanguine about, in, of, on or for? "satisfactory to" or "satisfactory for"? satisfied with, of, by, in or on? "satisfying for" or "satisfying to"? scarce in, for, at, on or of? scared of, to, about, for or by? "scary for" or "scary to"? "scathing about", "scathing in" or "scathing of"? "sceptical about" or "sceptical of"?

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