Being able to describe what surrounds us and express what we feel is a huge milestone in our Spanish learning journey. And if you think about it, our five senses are the primary tools that define what we perceive. With them, we can figure out the signals from outside or inside us. Today, we will explore the five senses in Spanish and learn the necessary words to describe the sensations we perceive around us in detail.
So if you’re ready to get in tune with your senses and sharpen your perception in Spanish, ¡sigue leyendo!
The Five Senses In Spanish
Sight – La Vista
The sense of sight is the most used of all the senses. It provides 80% of the information we receive from the outside. We can perceive shapes, dimensions, colors, and most things surrounding us through our eyes. We often take our vision for granted, but if you stop for a moment and think about what your life would be like if you lost your sight, you would be willing to pay anything to get it back.
Taste – El Gusto
Can you imagine how boring eating would be if we couldn’t taste food? I have talked to people who have temporarily lost their taste, and they tell me that it is one of the weirdest sensations they have ever felt. Taste is the sense that allows us to identify flavors in our food, to perform its function. Thanks to our tongues being covered with sensory receptors, we can easily identify the tastes of everything we’re munching on.
Touch – El Tacto
How would you describe the grass’ texture if you couldn’t feel it? The sense of touch allows us to perceive the qualities of objects and sensations such as temperature, texture, or hardness. Touch is the sense that connects us to reality and can protect us from external threats.
For example, imagine that you cannot feel the heat of the fire burning your hand while cooking. If it were not for touch, which allows you to withdraw your hand because of the burning sensation, you could lose your hand, if not your entire body. Hands are essential for people with visual and hearing disabilities because they can perceive their world through them.
Hearing – El Oído
Did you know that the sense of hearing helps us maintain our balance? That is why when people receive a blow to the ear, they become dizzy and lose control of their stability. Hearing is also necessary for human communication and language acquisition.
Smell – El Olfato
Have you ever noticed a gas leak? Since most gases are invisible, you could lose your life if it were not for the sense of smell. This may seem extreme, but it’s the truth. For instance, you go to a restaurant, and they serve you suspicious food. Although it looks “good,” the smell gives it away, and you realize it is damaged.
But going to something more positive, the sense of smell is directly connected to our memories. The scent of a place or a person remains fixed in our memory for a long time. It is estimated that we can recognize about 10,000 different smells on average throughout our lives – that’s a lot of scents.
Spanish Vocabulary Related To The Five Senses
Quick Grammar Note On The Five Senses In Spanish
As we mentioned, the five senses allow us to describe what we perceive around us. So if we want to talk about images, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations, we must consider some grammatical aspects. For instance, we must consider the proper conjugations for the related verbs. In this sense, if we want to describe an object’s shape, sound, flavor, and so on, we must conjugate the verb that goes before the adjective.
Examples:
- Hoy hace mucho frío. (Today it is very cold.)
- Esta sopa sabe raro. (This soup tastes weird.)
- La casa huele a flores.(The house smells like flowers.)
- La seda se siente muy suave.(Silk feels very soft.)
- El cielo se ve despejado.(The sky looks clear.)
- Escucho el sonido de la lluvia.(I hear the sound of the rain.)
- La cuchara está caliente.(The spoon is hot.)
Now that you know how to talk about the five senses in Spanish, it is time to put it into practice! After all, new knowledge will only stay in our memory if we consciously use them in our daily conversations. Therefore, we recommend you describe everything around you to exercise the vocabulary and the construction of Spanish sentences.
Exercise Your Five Senses Learning Spanish With Ling
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