A ‣ The five senses

The five senses are sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. What is sometimes referred to as a 'sixth sense' (or extrasensory perception) is a power to be aware of things independently of the five physical senses - a kind of supernatural sense. The five verbs referring to the senses are modified by an adjective rather than an adverb.

He looks dreadful. The trip sounds marvellous. The cake tastes good. It felt strange. The soup smelt delicious.

B ‣ Sight

Yesterday I glanced out of the window and noticed a policeman observing a house opposite through binoculars. I thought I glimpsed a man inside the house. Then I saw that there was a man peering into the window of the same house. I gazed at them wondering what they were doing. Suddenly the policeman stopped staring through his binoculars. He went to arrest the other man as he started to climb into the house through a window. I realised that I had witnessed a crime.

C ‣ Hearing

noiseless → silent → quiet → noisy → loud → deafening

D ‣ Taste

sweet (honey)      salty (crisps)      bitter (strong coffee)      sour (vinegar)      spicy (Indian food)

If you say something tastes hot it may mean spicy rather than not cold. If a curry, say, is not particularly hot, then it is mild. Food can be tasty, but tasteful refers to furnishings, architecture or a style of dressing or behaviour. The opposite of both is tasteless.

E ‣ Touch

She poked me in the ribs with her elbow to wake me up.

He stroked the cat and patted the dog.

She tapped him on the shoulder.

He grasped my hand and we ran.

She grabbed her MP3 player and ran to the bus stop.

The thief snatched her handbag and disappeared into the crowd.

Press the button.

Please handle the goods with great care.

F ‣ Smell

Here are some adjectives to describe smells:

Very unpleasant: stinking foul-smelling putrid musty [smelling unpleasantly old and slightly damp] pungent [smelling very strong, often unpleasantly so]

Pleasant: fragrant      aromatic      sweet-smelling      perfumed/scented

G ‣ Sixth sense

Different phenomena which a person with a sixth sense may experience:

telepathy [experiencing someone else's feelings even though you are apart]

premonition [knowing something is going to happen before it occurs]

intuition [instinctive understanding]

déjà vu [an inexplicable feeling that you have already been somewhere or experienced something before]