Die Suppe duftet gut.

good

Breakdown of Die Suppe duftet gut.

• die Suppe: the soup
• duften: to smell

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?