sentir
French, verb/sɑ̃.tiʁ/
sentir is a French verb meaning “to smell (to have a certain odor)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Recevoir quelque impression par le moyen des sens, éprouver en soi quelque chose d’agréable ou de pénible”.
What does sentir mean in English?
verb
- 1
to smell (to have a certain odor)
Ça sent bon.
- 2
to taste
- 3
to feel (physical perception)
- 4
to smell of, taste of
Ce repas sent l’ail.
- 5
informalto smack of; to indicate, foreshadow
Ça sent la pluie.
- 6
to have the character, manner, feeling or appearance of; to give a feeling of
- 7
to feel, be aware of, be conscious of
- 8
to feel (in oneself)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Recevoir quelque impression par le moyen des sens, éprouver en soi quelque chose d’agréable ou de pénible. 2. Action qui résulte de l’utilisation de son odorat. 3. Action qui résulte de l’utilisation du toucher. 4. Avoir une impression, ressentir.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sentir
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- sentant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- senti participle past
- sens first-person indicative present
- sent indicative present singular
- sentons first-person indicative plural
- sentez indicative plural present
- sentent indicative plural present
- sentais first-person imperfect indicative
- sentait imperfect indicative singular
- sentions first-person imperfect indicative
- sentiez imperfect indicative plural
- sentaient imperfect indicative plural
- sentis first-person historic indicative
- sentit historic indicative past
- sentîmes first-person historic indicative
- sentîtes historic indicative past
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce sentir?
- /sɑ̃.tiʁ/
- \sɑ̃.tiʁ\
- [sɑ̃.tiʁ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sentir
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sentir in French?
sentir appears 48 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).