Words that tell how something smells
Your nose picks up things your eyes miss. Smell words let you put that in writing.
- fresh, sweet, clean
- smoky, musty, sour
- strong, faint
“The kitchen smelled smoky.”
Notice something about that list. The words “sweet” and “sour” were taste words in the last lesson and they turn up here too. More on that later in the course.
Words that tell how something sounds
Sound words tell you what your ears pick up.
- loud, quiet, soft
- noisy, silent
- high, low
“A loud truck went past.”
“The room was quiet.”
Sound words and noise words are different
This one is worth pausing on.
“Bang” and “crash” and “buzz” are words for noises. They name the sound itself.
“Loud” and “quiet” are describing words. They tell you what a sound is like.
| Sentence | Describing word |
|---|---|
| A loud bang woke me up. | loud |
| The quiet buzz came from the fridge. | quiet |
In both rows the noise word is the naming word and the describing word tells you about it.
A mistake to watch for
Writers often stop at “good” and “bad” for smells too.
“The bread smelled good.” tells the reader nothing.
“The bread smelled warm and sweet.” puts them in the kitchen.
Your turn
Say smell or sound.
- “a smoky room”
- “a noisy bus”
- “fresh air”
- “a quiet voice”
Check your answers
- Smell.
- Sound.
- Smell.
- Sound.
Remember
- Smell words tell what your nose picks up.
- Sound words tell what a sound is like.
- A noise word like bang names the sound and does not describe it.