कुत्ते की भूख कम है।

Because कुत्ता is changing into its oblique form before the postposition की.

• Direct form: कुत्ता
• Oblique form: कुत्ते

In Hindi, masculine singular nouns ending in -ा often change to -े when followed by a postposition such as का / की / के, को, से, में, etc.

So:

• कुत्ता = dog
• कुत्ते की = of the dog / the dog's

की is a genitive postposition, used to show possession or relationship.

So कुत्ते की भूख literally means:

• the dog's hunger
• or the hunger of the dog

It often matches English 's or of.

Because का / की / के agree with the thing possessed, not with the possessor.

Here, the possessed noun is भूख (hunger), and भूख is feminine singular, so Hindi uses की.

Compare:

• कुत्ते का घर = the dog's house
  (घर is masculine singular)
• कुत्ते की भूख = the dog's hunger
  (भूख is feminine singular)
• कुत्ते के खिलौने = the dog's toys
  (खिलौने is plural masculine)

No. Here कुत्ते is singular oblique, not plural.

This is a very common point of confusion, because कुत्ते can also be the direct plural form.

So कुत्ते can mean two different things depending on grammar:

• singular oblique: used before a postposition
  
  • कुत्ते की भूख
• plural direct: dogs
  
  • कुत्ते दौड़ रहे हैं = dogs are running

In your sentence, the presence of की shows that कुत्ते is singular oblique.

भूख is just a noun that is grammatically feminine in Hindi. In many cases, noun gender has to be learned as part of the word.

There is not always a reliable rule from meaning alone. So it is best to memorize nouns together with gender:

• भूख — feminine
• घर — masculine
• रोटी — feminine

The feminine gender of भूख is why you get की in कुत्ते की भूख.

Because कम is usually indeclinable in this kind of use. It does not normally change for gender or number.

So you can say:

• भूख कम है
• ज़रूरत कम है
• समस्याएँ कम हैं

In all of these, कम stays कम.

This is different from adjectives that do change, such as:

• बड़ा / बड़ी / बड़े

है is the present-tense form of to be for a singular subject.

The sentence is describing भूख as कम, so the structure is basically:

• [the dog's hunger] [low] [is]

That is why है appears at the end.

Hindi often puts the verb at the end of the sentence.

Yes, effectively it is.

The sentence is built around कुत्ते की भूख (the dog's hunger), and that whole noun phrase is what is being described as कम.

So the structure is:

• कुत्ते की भूख = the dog's hunger
• कम = low / less
• है = is

So grammatically, the sentence is closer to The dog's hunger is low than to The dog is hungry.

You could, but the nuance is a little different.

• कुत्ता भूखा नहीं है = the dog is not hungry
• कुत्ते की भूख कम है = the dog's hunger/appetite is low

The second sentence sounds a bit more descriptive and focuses on the amount of hunger. It can feel slightly more formal, observational, or clinical.

Another very common Hindi way to express a similar idea is:

• कुत्ते को ज़्यादा भूख नहीं है = the dog is not very hungry

Because Hindi does not normally use articles like a, an, and the.

Whether something is a dog, the dog, or dogs is usually understood from context and grammar.

So in this sentence, English may need the, but Hindi does not.

That means कुत्ते की भूख कम है can be understood from context without an article word.

You would say:

कुत्तों की भूख कम है।

Here is what changed:

• कुत्ता → कुत्तों
  plural oblique
• की stays the same
  because it still agrees with भूख, which is feminine singular

So:

• कुत्ते की भूख = the dog's hunger
• कुत्तों की भूख = the dogs' hunger