How do I say ‘It tastes like…’ or ‘It smells like…’ in Spanish?
Es viernes, el 4 de agosto de 2017.
Post 126 of 365
How do you say ‘It tastes like’ or ‘It smells like’ in Spanish? Today we’ll explore ‘saber y oler‘
Hola,
Last week we studied the difference between verbs ‘saber’ y ‘conocer‘ and their uses.
Today we’ll take an even closer look at the verb ‘saber‘ to learn how you say ‘It tastes like...‘ in Spanish and add on the verb ‘oler‘ to say ‘It smells like…‘
1. Saber
Last week we learned 2 uses of the verb ‘saber‘:
A. Saber información
Ellos saben donde está. – They know where it is.
B. Saber + infinitivo to say ‘to know how to do something’
Yo sé hablar español. – I know how to speak Spanish.
Tú sabes jugar al tenis bien. – You know how to play tennis well.
Here’s a 3rd use:
C. Sabe a… – It tastes like…
For this use we’ll just use the 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural forms (not yo, tú or nosotros)
El pan sabe a queso. – The bread tastes like cheese.
Los camarones saben a ajo. – The shrimp taste like garlic.
El pescado sabe a atún. – The fish tastes like tuna.
Estas tortillas saben a maíz fresco. – These tortillas taste like fresh corn.
OJO – As English speakers we want to say ‘It tastes like cheese – Sabe como queso, but that is NOT correct in Spanish. Use sabe a queso instead.
Other related words to this use of saber are:
a. el sabor – the flavor
El sabor es muy delicioso. – The flavor is really yummy.
b. sabroso – flavorful, delicious
¡Qué sabroso! – How delicious!
2. Oler
*Huele a… – It smells like…
Today use we’ll use the 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural forms
*Note that this verb is irregular…but we don’t need to worry about that just yet.
We’ll simply learn: Huele a… and Huelen a…
Tu casa huele a pan. – Your house smells like bread.
Las frutas huelen a verano. – The fruits smell like summer.
Huele a humo. – It smells like smoke.
El café huele a avellano. – The coffee smells like hazelnut.
OJO – As English speakers we want to say ‘It smells like smoke – Huele como humo, but that is NOT correct in Spanish. Use huele a humo instead.
Other related words and phrases are:
a. el olor – the smell
El olor es muy fuerte. – The smell is really strong.
b. oloroso – smelly (could be bad or good. For a nice smell say ‘fragante‘)
¡Qué apestoso! – How stinky!
¡Qué olor! – What a smell!
Huele delicioso. – It smells delicious.
Y las flores, ¿huelen? – And the flowers, do they smell?
Sí, huelen muy bueno. – Yes, they smell really good.
Action steps: Get out your Spanish Blog 365 Journal and note phrases from above. Then throw them into conversation and situations.
It’s fun and important to make observations about taste and scent in Spanish.
Have fun!
Gracias y nos vemos mañana,
Carolina
