The verb sentir is an interesting verb as it is more vague and general than the verb 'to smell' in English.
(1) Sentir is first of all used to express the sense of smell:
Est-ce que vous sentez ce parfum?
Do you smell that perfume?
(2) Sentir can also be used in a larger sense to express 'to feel something':
Ça fait mal?- Non, je ne sens rien.
Does it hurt? - No, I don't feel anything.
Est-ce qu'elle sent ça ?
Does she feel that?
(3) And in some cases, sentir can even be used to express 'taste', in a very general context of 'sensing' the presence of an ingredient for example:
Est-ce que tu sens la tomate ?
Do you taste the tomato?
ATTENTION: You use the same structure - sentir <quelque chose> - to express both 'to smell/feel/taste something' AND 'to smell like/of something'.
Note that in the case of 'smell like/of', you always use definite articles le, la, l', les as the simile is general.
Since the structure is the same, it is only the context that makes the meaning clear:
Tu sens la friture, c'est dégoûtant !
You smell of fried food, it's disgusting!
Tu sens la friture dans cette rue?
Do you smell the fried food on that street ?
Special cases
Look at the following fixed expressions in French:
Tu sens la rose aujourd'hui !
You smell good today!
Ouh là là ! Ils ne sentent pas la rose !
Wow! They smell nasty!
Attention ! Ça ne sent pas la rose là-dedans !
Careful! It smells nasty in here!
- sentir la rose, which means 'to smell good', literally 'to smell of roses'
- ne pas sentir la rose, which means 'to smell bad/nasty', literally 'to not smell of roses'
See also the more advanced Using 'sentir bon' and 'se sentir bien'
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ça sent les roses ici.
It smells like roses in here.
Tu sens la friture, c'est dégoûtant !
You smell of fried food, it's disgusting!
Est-ce que vous sentez ce parfum?
Do you smell that perfume?
Attention ! Ça ne sent pas la rose là-dedans !
Careful! It smells nasty in here!
Tu sens la friture dans cette rue?
Do you smell the fried food on that street ?
Tu sens la rose aujourd'hui !
You smell good today!
Est-ce que tu sens la tomate ?
Do you taste the tomato?
Ouh là là ! Ils ne sentent pas la rose !
Wow! They smell nasty!
Est-ce qu'elle sent ça ?
Does she feel that?
Ça fait mal?- Non, je ne sens rien.
Does it hurt? - No, I don't feel anything.
Loading your KwizQ&A
Mehmet
Kwiziq community member
6/02/17
Terri
Kwiziq community member
30 August 2017
2 replies
Under the 'Special Cases' section, ne pas sentir or ne sentir pas?
Under the 'Special Cases' section, one of the fixed expressions says '-ne pas sentir la rose...', but the examples have the ne ... pas surrounding sentir. Is there a time when it would be 'ne pas sentir ...', or is the expression written that way to show that it is literally 'to not smell'? Thank you for the clarification. Terri
Ron
Kwiziq community member
30 August 2017
30/08/17
The ne pas + the infinitive is mostly seen as a literary structure. Here's an example with explanation:
To negate an infinitive, you put the ne pas directly in front.
To negate anything else, you put the ne...pas around the conjugated verb, either the auxiliary in compound verb tenses or moods like the passé composé, i.e. je n'ai pas mange and surrounding the verb in simple tenses like «Je ne mange pas»
Vous devriez ne pas la connaître = You are negating the infinitive connaître --> to not know
Vous ne devriez pas la connaître = You are negating the conjugated verb devriez --> should not
So the first sentence says that it must be the case that you don't know her, while the second sentence says that it must not be the case that you do know her.
J'espère que cela vous aiderait.
Bonne chance,
Terri
Kwiziq community member
31 August 2017
31/08/17