饿

饿 (è) is the everyday Chinese word for 'hungry' and, less commonly, the verb 'to starve.' As a stative verb / adjective it normally takes degree adverbs — 很饿 ('very hungry'), 有点饿 ('a bit hungry'), 饿死了 ('starving to death,' i.e. 'I'm so hungry').

Unlike English, you do not say '是饿' or 'I am hungry' with a copula; Chinese drops the 'to be' before adjectives, so the natural sentence is 我饿了 ('I'm hungry now'), where 了 marks the change of state. 饿 can also act as a causative verb meaning 'to starve someone' — 别饿着孩子 ('don't let the child go hungry'). The radical 饣 (food) hints at the meaning. The opposite is 饱 (bǎo, 'full'), and the two are taught as a pair.