32 I can describe the senses
A Seeing and hearing
Example
Meaning
Look1 carefully, and you can see the bridge over the river.
From here it looks2 very small.
look1 turn your eyes to sth and pay attention to it.
see know or notice sth using your eyes.
look2 seem from what you can see.
We watched TV for an hour.
watch sth look at sth for some time to see what happens.
He appears1 to be very happy.
A dog appeared2 from behind a tree.
appears1 seem.
appear2 If sth appears, you suddenly begin to see it. OPP disappear.
The children stared at the man with the long red hair.
stare at sb/sth look at sb/sth for a long time without moving your eyes.
Jay always notices what I’m wearing.
He’s very observant.
notice sth see sth and be aware of it.
observant good at noticing things.
He glanced at me and smiled.
glance at sb/sth look quickly at sb/sth.
A I can hear something.
B It sounds like a child crying.
hear sth receive sounds with your ears without trying,
sound like sth make a noise that is like sth.
She listens to the radio a lot.
listen pay attention to sth you hear, often for along time.
I overheard them in the bank.
overhear sb hear other people’s conversation by accident.
I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch what you said.
catch sth hear or understand what sb is saying; usually used when you don’t hear or understand sth.
spotlight can + sense verbs
We don’t use see, hear, smell, or taste in the continuous tenses; we often use can (as in the examples above).
I can see two boats in this photo. (NOT I see or I’m seeing two boats.)
3 Test yourself. Look at the examples and
cover the meanings. What do the words in bold mean?
B Smelling, tasting, and touching
Word
Example
Meaning
smell sth
I can smell lunch...
notice or recognize sth using your nose.
smell like sth
...it smells like fish.
have a smell like the smell of sth / sth else.
stink INF
This towel stinks. I must wash it.
have a horrible smell.
flavour
They sell 30 flavours of ice cream.
the sensation of sth in your mouth (e.g. a chocolate / strawberry flavour).
taste
Try this wine. It tastes very strange.
have a particular flavour.
salty
The soup is very salty.
having the taste of or containing a lot of salt.
bland
This cheese is quite bland.
without much flavour.
touch sth
When I touched the back wall...
put your fingers on sth.
feel
feel like sth
...it felt a bit damp (= a little wet).
give a sensation of or like sth when touched (e.g. it feels hot, it feds like wood).
press sth
If you press that button, you get a ticket.
put your hand or finger on sth firmly.
grab sth
He grabbed my mobile and ran off.
take sth with a sudden movement.
tap sb/sth
Someone tapped me on the arm.
touch sb/sth quickly with your hands or feet.
rub sth
I rubbed the book with a soft cloth to get the dirt off.
move your hand firmly backwards and forwards over the surface of sth.
spotlight like
Like can
mean ‘similar to’ and it can mean ‘such as’:
This flower smells like honey. (The
flower has a smell similar to that of honey.)
Some people like Maggie live alone.(Maggie is one example.)
6 Test yourself. Cover the examples and
meanings and look at the words. What are the meanings?
