Word of the Day: Smell
You use your nose when you smell something.
This verb can be transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb is followed by an object:
- She can smell the flowers in the room. (The object in this sentence is “flowers.”)
- I smell pizza.
- He doesn’t smell anything.
- As soon as I walked into the house, I smelled something good being made in the kitchen.
An intransitive verb is not followed by an object:
- These flowers smell good. (The word “good” is an adjective.)
- This smells bad.
- The air smells fresh.
- This meat smells like it’s rotten.
If you use the word “smell” by itself, it usually indicates the presence of an unpleasant odor, so be careful how you use this word:
- What smells? (The smell is bad. Listen to the intonation of my voice.)
- What’s that smell?
- Something smells.
- Do you smell something?
Essential English Dictionary
Visit the Popular English Words Beginning with S page to see the list of all words starting with letter S. For seeing the HiCafe dictionary, visit the Popular English Words with Meaning page.