Smell. This can be a countable noun (a smell, probably "pach" in Slovak) or a verb, but with two meanings, one transitive (to smell something, like "We can't smell the
coke plant any more", or "Už necítiť koksovňu", meaning "cítiť niečo nosom") and the other intransitive (to smell nice, i.e. "voňať", or to smell nasty, i.e. "smrdieť").
Whichever way, the word "smell" in itself is neither positive nor negative, so it can only be understood properly in context and in connection with other words. If
someone says "Ugh, what's that smell?" and grimaces, they mean "smrad", but if they say "Mmm, what's that smell?" and smile, then they mean "vôňa". Other words for smell which are positive are
aroma, perfume, fragrance, scent and bouquet /buké/, and some negative ones are odor, stink, stench, pong, niff, whiff and reek. Details next week.
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