# to smell



## papillon

In English, the verb smell covers three distinct functions related to the olfactory perception. The meanings are best illustrated by the following dialog:
-The cactus flowers smell (1) of rotten meat. Go ahead, smell (2) them!
-Well, I don't smell (3) anything.

In Russian, we will use three different verbs to translate the verb smell in this dialog. I am interested to see what is the situation in your language.

Russian:
(1) To emit smell - пахнуть (pahnut')
(2) The action of inhaling in order to detect a smell: нюхать (niuhat')
(3) Perceiving a smell - чувствовать (chuvstvovat'). The last one is just a general verb meaning "to feel".

Цветы кактуса пахнут гнилым мясом. Не бойся, можешь их понюхать.
Я ничего не чувствую.


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## Abbassupreme

In Tehrani Persian:
1. Bu dâdan.
2. Bu kardan.
3. Bu râ fahmidan./Motevajjeye yek buhi budan.  (To comprehend the smell./Being aware of the smell.)  However, I'm thinking that it may be possible to use "bu kardan" as well, here.  I'm not positive on this, though.

1.  Golhâye kâktus buye gandi mida(ha)n.  "Gand"=Means "rotten" or even "foul".  It can be used on people with the same meanings impllied.
2.  Biyâ bu(he)shun (be)kon!
3.  Bu(he)sh râ nemifahmam. (I don't smell it.) (lit."I don't comprehend its smell./ I'm not comprehending its smell.)
This one sounds best for this particular sentence, though:
Man motevajjeye bu(he)sh[un] nistam. ("I'm not aware of its smell.")  Add the suffix in the [] to get the "they" form.


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## sokol

In German it's like in English only one word for all three of them, but you could use (with difference in style) other verbs too, some options included in parentheses below:

(1) - Die Kaktusblüte _riecht _nach verdorbenem Fleisch. (_stinkt _= smells bad; some people avoid the use of 'stinken' as they think this word is rude, especially for middle class, while working class usually don't think that 'stinken' should not be used)
(2) - Überzeug dich selbst, _riech _dran!*
(3) - Ehrlich gesagt, ich _rieche _gar nichts.*
(*_schmecken/schmeck(e) _= could be used in both sentences in this meaning in Austrian rural dialects, but this use is already beginning to vanish as in standard language the meaning of 'schmecken' is 'taste' and not 'smell')

Apart from that, there would be some other non-standard verbs for the same meaning which do not cover all three meanings. 'Stinken' is already one like that (only possible for meaning 1), 'schmecken' another one (only possible for 2+3, whereas sentence 2 would be like 'Schmeck selber.' - so with different wording and, as mentioned, only correct in certain dialects).


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## Nizo

*Esperanto*:

1.  La kaktofloroj odoras je putrinta karno.
2.  Jen, flaru ilin!
3.  Nu, mi flaras nenion.

The verb _odori_ means to emit a smell/odor.  The verb _flari_ means to perceive a smell/an odor.


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## spakh

-The cactus flowers smell (1) of rotten meat. Go ahead, smell (2) them!
-Well, I don't smell (3) anything.


In Turkish, all different.

-Kaktüs çiçekleri çürük et gibi kokuyor (1). Haydi, kokla (2)!
-Eee, hiçbir koku almıyorum (3).

1. kokmak
2. koklamak
3. koku almak


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## jazyk

In Portuguese, using the same sentences:
As flores de cactos cheiram (from cheirar) a carne podre. Vá em frente, cheire-as (from the same cheirar)/dê uma cheirada (give it a sniff/).
Bem/Para falar a verdade, eu não sinto (from the verb sentir, to feel) nada.

This is how I'd say it, but there may be other possibilities.


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## Lingvisten

In Danish you can use the word "lugte" for all the three meanings.


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic:

-We do not use a verb for (1). We would literally say "Their smell/odor...".
-We use the same verb for (2) and (3), but not the same form:

- iS-Sabraat (the cactus plants) *riHithom* (their smell/odor) laHme (meat) kharbaane (rotten). *Shim*hom (smell them)!
- Mish (not) *shaamem* (~smelling) ishi (anything).


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## tkekte

Hebrew would have מריח [meriah] for all three.  Sounds a bit like the German word... (the me- is a prefix) The particular sentence "cactus flowers smell of rotten meat" would be worded differently though, because merihim (plural) would sound weird there.

So in Hebrew you would rather have something like

ריחם של פרחי הקקטוס מזכיר בשר רקוב. (the smell of cactus flowers reminds of rotten flesh)
אל תפחד, ת*ריח* אותם
איני מ*ריח* כלום



			
				elroy said:
			
		

> laHme (meat)


The Arabic word for meat is like the Hebrew word for bread.  Interesting... maybe this has something to do with why bread is used to symbolize Jesus's flesh in the Church.


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## בעל-חלומות

tkekte said:
			
		

> Hebrew would have מריח [meriah] for all three.  Sounds a bit like the German word... (the me- is a prefix) The particular sentence "cactus flowers smell of rotten meat" would be worded differently though, because merihim (plural) would sound weird there.


 
The first one does not use the same verb as the other two, in Hebrew. It would be either *הריח* מזכיר or יש לזה *ריח* של . It uses a noun that is related to the verb, but the actual verb is either להזכיר (to remind), or יש ("there is", which is not really a verb).

The other two are the same verb in different forms, as you said.


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## irene.acler

In *Italian *we use three different verbs:
(1) To emit smell - sapere di
(2) The action of inhaling in order to detect a smell: annusare
(3) Perceiving a smell - sentire

- I fiori di cactus sanno di carne andata a male. Vai, annusali!
- Io non sento niente.


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## Kangy

In Spanish we use the same verb for the three situations: *oler*


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## Nanon

In French, you would use the verb "sentir" in all three cases, unless you want to add different nuances as Sokol explained for German. The most standard translation would probably look like this:

_- Les fleurs de cactus sentent la viande pourrie. Vas-y, sens-les !_ (also: _vas-y, sens !_ Omitting the object pronoun would be rather idiomatic here).
_- Moi, je ne sens rien._

You could have variants such as:

(1) _Les fleurs de cactus puent _(puer: to stink)_ la viande pourrie. 
_But:_ Le jasmin embaume. _All depends...
(2) The verb _humer _exists (inhaling to detect a smell, normally pleasant or meaningful) but it is rare or literary. And it goes better with roses or a glass of wine than with rotten flesh...


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## tkekte

בעל-חלומות said:


> The first one does not use the same verb as the other two, in Hebrew. It would be either *הריח* מזכיר or יש לזה *ריח* של . It uses a noun that is related to the verb, but the actual verb is either להזכיר (to remind), or יש ("there is", which is not really a verb).
> 
> The other two are the same verb in different forms, as you said.


You are right, יש לזה ריח של is used more often. 
But still, you can p) use מריח for that also.

"it smells like" ~ זה מריח כמו


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## Perkele

1. Kaktuksen kukat haisevat pilaantuneelta lihalta.
2. Haista niitä!
3. En minä haista mitään.

The infinite form of the verb used in the first one is 'haista' while the infinite form for both the second and the third is 'haistaa'.

haista (to smell of something)
I smell - minä haisen
you smell - sinä haiset
he/she smells - hän haisee
we smell - me haisemme
you smell - te haisette
they smell - he haisevat

haistaa (to smell something)
minä haistan
sinä haistat
hän haistaa
me haistamme
te haistatte
he haistavat

Moreover, if something is being odorous Finns tend to use verb 'tuoksua' instead of 'haista'. Despite this, if you smell something we always use the verb 'haistaa'.


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## Zsanna

In Hungarian, we also have 3 different ways but there other complications may turn up (indipendently from the original meaning):

1) to emit a smell = valamilyen szaga van (i.e. to have/it has a smell of some sort - this last to be replaced according to the context) 

2) the action of inhaling in order to detect a smell = (meg)szagul/szagol ("normal" verb with the possibility to express a definite intention by adding the "meg" - which is written in one word with the verb if added)

3) perceiving a smell = érez (the same verb as "feel" in Hungarian, so here there is a coincidence with the French use of "sentir"); (if "meg" is added before the verb, it indicates that the action is completed)

We also have a probably wider range of synonyms (both in verbs and adjectives) for differentiating the different intensity of pleasant/neutral/unpleasant smells.


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## gabrigabri

irene.acler said:


> In *Italian *we use three different verbs:
> (1) To emit smell - sapere di
> (2) The action of inhaling in order to detect a smell: annusare
> (3) Perceiving a smell - sentire
> 
> - I fiori di cactus sanno di carne andata a male. Vai, annusali!
> - Io non sento niente.



(1) You can also use "puzzare" (to stink)

I fiori di cactus puzzano di ...


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## Angel.Aura

gabrigabri said:


> (1) You can also use "puzzare" (to stink)
> 
> I fiori di cactus puzzano di ...



And also (1) _odorare_ (to smell), but especially if the smell is a pleasant one, a perfume (not the case of the rotten meat indeed! ).


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## HUMBERT0

papillon said:


> -The cactus flowers smell (1) of rotten meat. Go ahead, smell (2) them!
> -Well, I don't smell (3) anything.





Kangy said:


> In Spanish we use the same verb for the three situations: *oler*



I agree. However since the text appears to be very descriptive, it could be translated to:

  Las flores de los cactus *apestan* a carne podrida. Ve ¡*huélelas*!
  Bueno, yo no *percibo* nada.


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## papillon

Thanks everyone for your answers. If anyone else likes to contribute, i would love to hear it. Let me emphasize that what I am most interested in is the existence (or absence)  of a verb that covers all 3, or at least 2 of the 3 meanings. I take it for granted that it is always possible to find more specific verbs (even in English).


HUMBERT0 said:


> ...since the text appears to be very descriptive, it could be translated to:
> Las flores de los cactus *apestan* a carne podrida. Ve ¡*huélelas*!
> Bueno, yo no *percibo* nada.


I may have chosen a somewhat misleading example of the smell of a cactus flower, since it gave rise to several translations corresponding to stink/stench. I meant to ask for the "neutral" verbs, forgetting for a second the unpleasant nature of the smell I had chosen.


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## Kangy

Una versión más argentinizada:

-Las flores de los cactus *tienen olor/una baranda* a carne podrida. Andá, ¡*olelas*!
-Bueno, yo no *siento/huelo* nada.


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## ayessa003

-The cactus flowers smell (1) of rotten meat. Go ahead, smell (2) them!
-Well, I don't smell (3) anything.
 
In Filipino, we use three different forms: 

-Ang mga bulaklak ng cactus ay nangangamoy bulok na karne. Sige, amuyin mo.
- Wala akong naaamoy.


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## Thomas1

papillon said:


> Russian:
> (1) To emit smell - пахнуть (pahnut')
> (2) The action of inhaling in order to detect a smell: нюхать (niuhat')
> (3) Perceiving a smell - чувствовать (chuvstvovat'). The last one is just a general verb meaning "to feel".
> 
> Цветы кактуса пахнут гнилым мясом. Не бойся, можешь их понюхать.
> Я ничего не чувствую.


-Kwiaty kaktusa pachną zgniłym mięsem. Powąchaj!
-Nic nie czuję.
The equivalence is the same. Like in many languages we would probably use a different word in the first sentence (_śmierdzieć_-stiknk).

Tom


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## Encolpius

Zsanna said:


> 2) the action of inhaling in order to detect a smell = (meg)szagul/szagol ("normal" verb with the possibility to express a definite intention by adding the "meg" - which is written in one word with the verb if added)...



Hello Zsanna, what made you write the verb: megszagul?....I don't even think it is informal...only megszagol is right, right?


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## Dymn

In Catalan:
_- Les flors de cactus *fan olor* de carn podrida. Vinga, *olora*-les!
- Bé, jo no *sento* res._

1) _Fer olor de_, lit.: "to make scent of"
2) _Olorar_ "to smell"
3) _Sentir_, the general verb for "to feel"


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## ilocas2

so Germanic languages use 1 verb for all three whereas other languages use distincitve verbs........... 

they compensate it by fingers/toes distinction..........


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## Zsanna

Encolpius said:


> Hello Zsanna, what made you write the verb: megszagul?....I don't even think it is informal...only megszagol is right, right?


Sorry, it must be our (local) dialect because I checked it in the some one language dictionaries and they don't mention it. I would write "megszagol" in a translation but spontaneously (so not during interpreting) I would only say "megszagul" without any hesitation. (The other, standard form would sound a bit artificial to me.) 
But then I think it's a specificity of Hungarian that so many variants exist and unless you are really "language conscious", you can mix in your local dialect very easily.


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## ilocas2

papillon said:


> (1) To emit smell - пахнуть (pahnut')





Thomas1 said:


> -Kwiaty kaktusa pachną zgniłym mięsem.



In Czech *páchnout* means to smell bad whereas in Russian and Polish cognate verbs mean to smell without specification whether it's bad or good. It's an example of false friends in Slavic languages. Many false friends in Slavic languages evolved because of the arrival of Hungarians in Carpathian basin.


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## mataripis

To smell in Tagalog is Amuyin. Smell is Amoy.Snip is Singhutin.Aroma is Bango..Bad smell is Masangsang, bulok,panis etc.


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## apmoy70

ayessa003 said:


> -The cactus flowers smell (1) of rotten meat. Go ahead, smell (2) them!
> -Well, I don't smell (3) anything


(1) *«Mυρίζουν»* [miˈɾizun] (3rd p. pl. active present indicative) --> _they smell_ < MoGr v. *«μυρίζω»* [miˈɾizo] --> _to give off odour, perceive smell_ < Koine denominative v. *«μυρίζω» mŭrízō* --> _to salve, perfume_ < Koine neut. noun *«μύρον» múrŏn* --> _sweet-smelling oil, salve, perfume, myrrh_ < either from Aramaic ܡܪܝܪܐ (murr), or Hebrew מור (mor).
(2) *«Mύρισε/μυρίσ(ε)τε»* [ˈmiɾise] (2nd p. sing. or informal present imperative)/ [miˈɾis(e)te] (2nd p. pl. or formal present imperative) --> _(you) smell!_. The verb is *«μυρίζω»* [miˈɾizo] (see above).
(3) *«Μυρίζω»* [miˈɾizo] (see previous post), or *«διακρίνω»* [ði.aˈkrino] --> _to perceive, discern_ < Classical v. *«διακρίνω» dĭăkrínō* --> _to decide, determine, discern, distinguish, separate_ < compound; Classical adv. and preposition *«διά» diá* --> _in two, apart, through_ (PIE *dis- _apart_ related to Lat. dis-, Alb. ç- _apart_) + Classical v. *«κρίνω» krínō* --> _to separate, choose, select, decide_, secondary meanings _condemn, accuse, apply_ (PIE *kre(h₁)i- _to separate, distinguish, sieve_ cf Latin cernere > It. cernere, Sp./Fr. cerner, Por. cernir, Rom. cerne; Proto-Germanic *hrīnaną > Eng. rine, Dt. rijnen, Old Norse hrína).
If I were Cretan I'd use *«ακούω»* [aˈku.o] for (3); in the Cretan regiolect the verbs for hearing and smelling are identical: *«ακούω»* [aˈku.o] --> _to hear_ < Classical v. *«ἀκούω» ăkoúō* --> _to hear, obey, be called_
(PIE *keus-/*kous- _to hear_ which is perhaps from PIE *(s)keu- _to notice, observe_; the initial *«ἀ-» a-* in the Greek verb is copulative cf Proto-Germanic *hauzjan > Ger. hören, Eng. hear, Dt. horen, Isl. heyra, D./Nor. Bokmål høre, Nor. Nynorsk høyra, Swe. höra).


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## SuperXW

In modern spoken Chinese, the most common way to deal with them is as following:

(1) The cactus flowers smell of rotten meat.
We say: 那仙人掌花有臭味。"The cactus flowers *have rotten smell*."
*味 is the noun of "smell"*, which is *different *from the verb "smell".
Although we do have a verb for *"emit": 散发*, it is mostly used in *formal written language*.

(2) & (3) -Go ahead, smell them! -Well, I don't smell anything.
We say: -去*闻闻*它们！ -我什么也*闻*不到。
We use *a same verb 闻* for both (2) and (3).


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## Messquito

-The cactus flowers *smell (1)* of rotten meat. Go ahead, *smell (2)* them!
-Well, I don't *smell (3)* anything.
-那仙人掌花*聞起來(1)*像腐肉。快去，*聞(2)*一下。
-我什麼也*聞*不*到(3)*
(1) To emit smell *聞起來*=聞＋起來 (The subject that possess the smell+聞起來+像Noun/很Adjective)
*起來* is added after sense verbs to make them *linking verbs*. e.g. 看(look)起來=seem/look/appear, 聽(listen)起來=sound, 嚐(taste)起來/吃(eat)起來/喝(drink)起來=taste, 感覺(feel)起來=feel, 摸(touch,feel)起來=feel
(2) The action of inhaling in order to detect a smell: *聞* (Person+聞+Object)
Simply 聞, the basic character to mean the simple actions.
You can say 聞聞、聞聞看、聞一下、聞一聞 to express a little sense of trying.
(3) Perceiving a smell *聞到* (Person+聞到+the smell)
*到* is added after sense verbs to make them *more "passive"* (I don't know how to explain it; just look at the examples):
看＝look at (to use your eyes to take in scenes for a reason, *deliberately*)
看*到*＝see (to *experience* the physical activity of taking in things that come into your sight)
聽＝listen to (to *deliberately* apply the ability to hear)
聽*到*＝hear (to physically *experience* the sense of sound falling into ears)
聞＝smell
聞*到*＝smell
嚐＝taste e.g. Let's taste this strange banana we won from them. 來嘗我們從他們那邊贏來的這奇怪的香蕉
嚐*到*＝taste e.g. I can taste victory in it. 這裡面可以嚐到勝利的滋味
感覺＝feel e.g. Go feel that pretty girl in the dark. 去黑暗中感覺一下那美女
感覺*到*＝feel e.g. I can feel her soft hair. 我可以感覺到她柔軟的頭髮
摸＝touch/feel
摸*到*＝feel


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