饿

餓

我 + 饣

HSK 2.0Level 3

HSK 3.0Level 3

Definitions

è (adjective) hungry

è (verb) to be hungry; to starve

Etymology

Simplified form of 餓. Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound.

About

饿 is the simplified version of the traditional 餓, a phono-semantic compound. Its left side 饣 is a simplified radical from 食, conveying the meaning of food and eating. The right side 我 acts as the phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation. The character means hungry or starving, covering the full range from a mild everyday appetite to the severe malnutrition of famine, always centered on the physical sensations resulting from a lack of food.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我现在饿了。

Wǒ xiànzài è le.

I am hungry now.

他工作后很饿。

Tā gōngzuò hòu hěn è.

He is very hungry after work.

我饿了，想去吃饭。

Wǒ è le, xiǎng qù chīfàn.

I am hungry and want to go eat.

早上我没吃饭，所以饿了。

Zǎoshang wǒ méi chīfàn, suǒyǐ è le.

I didn't eat breakfast in the morning, so I am hungry.

饥饿的感觉很难受。

Jī'è de gǎnjué hěn nánshòu.

The feeling of hunger is very uncomfortable.

如果你饿了，就应该吃东西。

Rúguǒ nǐ è le, jiù yīnggāi chī dōngxi.

If you are hungry, you should eat something.

他非常饿，几乎走不动了。

Tā fēicháng è, jīhū zǒu bù dòng le.

He is so hungry that he can barely walk.

尽管他已经饿了很长时间，但他还是决定先完成工作。

Jǐnguǎn tā yǐjīng è le hěn cháng shíjiān, dàn tā háishì juédìng xiān wánchéng gōngzuò.

Although he has been hungry for a long time, he still decided to finish work first.

Related Characters

Component: 我

Component: 饣

饿