Ik ruik de geur van vers brood in de keuken.

I smell the scent of fresh bread in the kitchen.

Breakdown of Ik ruik de geur van vers brood in de keuken.

• ik: I
• het brood: the bread
• in: in
• vers: fresh
• de keuken: the kitchen
• van: of
• ruiken: to smell
• de geur: the scent

Questions & Answers about Ik ruik de geur van vers brood in de keuken.

Why does Dutch use Ik ruik de geur van vers brood instead of simply Ik ruik vers brood?

In Dutch ruiken can be used two ways:

• Transitively: Ik ruik vers brood is grammatically correct and common in speech (“I smell fresh bread”).
• More descriptively: Ik ruik de geur van vers brood (“I smell the scent of fresh bread”) explicitly focuses on the geur (“scent”) with the structure de geur van X. It’s a stylistic choice to highlight you perceive the aroma.

What role does the preposition van play in de geur van vers brood?

Van links the noun geur (“scent”) to its source:

• geur = scent
• van = of/from
• vers brood = fresh bread
  So literally de geur van vers brood = “the scent of fresh bread.”

Why is there no article before vers brood, i.e. why not het verse brood?

Here brood is an uncountable, general substance:

• Uncountable nouns describing materials or substances often drop the article: vers brood = “fresh bread” in general.
• If you meant a specific loaf, you could say het verse brood or een verse brood (though more idiomatic: een vers broodje for “a fresh roll”).

Could I say het verse brood to mean “the fresh bread”?

Yes, but that implies a specific bread piece everyone knows about:

• het verse brood = “the fresh bread” (that particular loaf)
• Without het, vers brood remains generic (“fresh bread” as a concept or aroma).

Why is in de keuken placed at the end of the sentence?

Dutch basic word order is Subject–Verb–Object, then adverbials (time, place, manner).

• Ik (subject) ruik (verb) de geur van vers brood (object) in de keuken (place).
  You can front in de keuken for emphasis:
  “In de keuken ruik ik de geur van vers brood.”

Can you use a continuous (progressive) form in Dutch, like English “I am smelling…”?

Dutch has no true progressive tense. The simple present covers both:

• Ik ruik = I smell / I am smelling.
  To stress on-going action you can use the “aan het … zijn” construction:
• Ik ben de geur van vers brood aan het ruiken (less common; more colloquial).

What’s the difference between geur and lucht?

Both can translate as “smell” or “odor,” but:

• geur often has a neutral/pleasant nuance (“scent” or “fragrance”).
• lucht can be neutral or negative (“air,” “odor,” sometimes “stink”).
  So de geur van vers brood sounds appetizing.

How do you form the past tense and past participle of ruiken?

Ruiken is a regular verb following the ‘t kofschip rule (stem ends in k, a voiceless consonant).

• Past singular: ik ruik → ik ruikte
• Past participle: ge
  • ruik
    • t = geruikt
      E.g. “Ik heb de geur van vers brood geruikt.”

Could I say “Ik heb de geur van vers brood geroken” instead of “geruikt”?

No. That would confuse with the verb roken (“to smoke”), which has the participle gerookt.
For ruiken the correct participle is geruikt.

Is it okay to drop de geur van and just say Ik ruik versgebakken brood in de keuken?

Yes. Ik ruik versgebakken brood in de keuken (“I smell freshly baked bread in the kitchen”) is perfectly natural.
Choosing versgebakken brood makes it even more specific—“freshly baked bread.”

Why do we say vers gebakken brood instead of versge-bakken brood as one word?

In Dutch compounds, adjectives and past participles can attach to nouns.

• versgebakken is often written as one word: versgebakken brood (“freshly baked bread”).
  In our original example we used the simpler adjective + noun vers brood, but you can combine them when describing the baking process.