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Questions & Answers about Die Suppe duftet gut.
What part of speech is duftet, and what does it mean in Die Suppe duftet gut?
duftet is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb duften, which means to smell pleasantly or to give off a nice fragrance.
Why is die Suppe in the nominative case?
die Suppe is the subject of the sentence (the thing doing the smelling), so it takes the nominative case in German.
Is gut here an adjective or an adverb?
Here, gut functions as an adverb, modifying the verb duftet. It stays in its base form because adverbs in German are not inflected for case, gender, or number.
Why don’t we use a linking verb like ist in this sentence (e.g., Die Suppe ist gut)?
The verb duften is a full intransitive verb that already expresses to give off a pleasant smell. You don’t need sein (ist) – duftet itself means smells good.
What is the difference between riechen and duften?
riechen is a neutral verb meaning to smell in general; it can be transitive (someone smells something) or intransitive (Die Suppe riecht gut). duften is strictly intransitive and implies emitting a pleasant fragrance; it’s used when something naturally has a good smell (Die Suppe duftet gut).
How would you say The soup smells of carrots in German?
Use duften nach + dative:
Die Suppe duftet nach Karotten.
Can you change the word order to Gut duftet die Suppe? Is that correct?
Yes, that’s grammatically possible for emphasis or poetic effect. German main clauses follow the V2 rule, so the finite verb still appears in the second slot. You can move gut to the first slot for emphasis: Gut duftet die Suppe.
Why is duftet placed second in the sentence?
German main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule, which means the finite verb must occupy the second position in a statement. In Die Suppe duftet gut, die Suppe is the first element, duftet is second, and the adverb gut comes third.