how to say “a smell” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /]רֵיחַ

The basic Hebrew word for a smell is ריח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /].

The ריח can be pleasant:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-2.m4a” /]על טעם וריח אין להתווכח.

You can’t argue about (personal) taste and smell.

Or it could be nasty:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-3.m4a” /]יש כאן ריח של דג רקוב.

There’s a smell here of rotten fish.

And to smell? It depends on what you mean. If it’s to smell as in to smell the roses, the word is the active-causative הפעיל verb להריח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-4.m4a” /]. But if the object itself smells because it’s… rotten fish, the word is להסריח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-5.m4a” /], also a הפעיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-6.m4a” /] verb.

ריח is related to the word רוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-7.m4a” /] – wind or spirit.