How to Write 饿 (è) — Meaning “Hungry”

Imagine you (我) are so hungry that you run to food (饣). Picture the radical 饣 as a bowl of rice and 我 as a person chasing after it. This visual of "I want food" helps you connect the parts to the meaning "hungry."

The left radical 饣 should be written narrow, with the first stroke as a short vertical line. The right part 我 is wider and includes a diagonal stroke (丿) that must cross the vertical hook — a common mistake is making this diagonal too short. Keep the balance: left side thin, right side slightly larger.

饿 means "hungry" and has 我 on the right. 飨 (xiǎng) means "feast" or "entertain" and combines 乡 (village) above 食 (food). 饯 (jiàn) means "farewell dinner" and has 戋 (small) on the right. Remember: 饿 = I need food; 飨 = village feast; 饯 = send-off with food.

饿 is most often used as a predicate, like in 我饿了 (wǒ è le) meaning "I am hungry now." In daily conversation, Chinese people may ask 你饿了吗? (Nǐ è le ma?) to show care. The word 饿死 (è sǐ) is commonly used hyperbolically to say "I'm starving!" even when not literally dying.

Common words containing 饿 include: 饿了 (è le) — Hungry / got hungry; 饥饿 (jī è) — hunger; hungry; 饿死 (è sǐ) — Starve to death / starving.