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饿
è
hungry
我饿了，我们去吃饭吧。
I'm hungry; let's go eat.
everyday
Feeling a need or desire to eat food
他整天都在忙工作，都忘了饿了。
He was so busy with work all day that he forgot to eat.
肚子饿得咕咕叫。
My stomach is growling from hunger.
Used as both an adjective and a verb in Chinese (e.g., 我饿了 'I am hungry', 我饿了要吃饭 'I am hungry and need to eat').
Pro Tip
Distinguish 饿 and 饥
Both mean 'hungry,' but 饥 is more formal/literary (e.g., 饥寒交迫 'cold and hungry'). 饿 is colloquial and universally used.
Gold Rule
Usage with 了 (le)
Use 了 after 饿 to indicate a change in state (e.g., 我饿了 'I am hungry now').
Word Origin
From Old Chinese *ʔŋaːs (饑), later merged with 餓 (OC *ŋaːls, 'hungry').
Usage Notes
Commonly used in daily speech to express hunger. Can also be used metaphorically (e.g., '饥饿营销' 'hunger marketing' in business).
Word Breakdown
饣
food radical (饣/飠)
root我
phonetic component (originally from *ŋaːs)
phonetic汉英词典