A. The five basic senses
To express it another way, the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel.
B. Sense verbs with adjectives
- You look tired this evening. [from what I can see]
- That man sounded foreign. [from another country, from what I could hear]
- This cake tastes a bit strange.
- Fresh bread smells wonderful.
- This shirt feels damp. [slightly wet, often in an unpleasant way]
Language help
The verbs above can all be used as nouns.
I like the look of this hotel. [the appearance of it]
I love the sound of his voice.
C. Sense verbs with like or as if/though
We can describe things using sense verbs with like + noun or as if / though + clause, but not
like + adjective (NOT She looks like nice). When we use like + noun, we are often describing
how similar two things are.
- Have you ever had a nectarine? They look like peaches.
- Did you hear that noise? It sounded like an alarm.
- That shampoo smells like coconut. (also smells of coconut)
- Don’t you think this material feels like silk?
- That boy looks as if he’s trying to get over the wall.
- I spoke to Isobel. It sounded as though they had a good time on holiday.
Language help
We also use seem and appear to describe a sense or feeling about someone or something, after we have seen them, talked to them, etc. Before like + noun, we usually use seem.
I saw Will and he seemed/appeared quite happy.
The shop appears/seems to be very busy.
Amelia said she wanted to travel a bit, which seems like a good idea.
D. Verbs easily confused
If you look [look carefully] at the map, you can see [are able to see] the church on the left.
- They’ve been watching that man for weeks. [paying attention to something, often for a long time]
- He ran into me because he wasn’t looking [paying attention].
- I watched/saw a film on TV. I saw a film at the cinema. (NOT I
watched a film at the cinema.)
- I heard [was able to hear] what she said but I wasn’t listening [paying attention].
- Don’t touch the oven [put your hand on it]. It’s hot!
- Just feel my feet [put your hand on them to discover something about them]. Aren’t they cold?
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