Breakdown of Sento il profumo dei fiori in giardino.
io
I
di
of
in
in
il giardino
the garden
il fiore
the flower
il profumo
the scent
sentire
to smell
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Sento il profumo dei fiori in giardino.
Why is the verb sentire used here to mean “smell,” instead of a more specific verb like annusare or fiutare?
In Italian sentire covers all five senses, so sento can mean “I hear,” “I feel,” “I taste,” and “I smell.”
- Annusare and fiutare both imply actively sniffing or tracking a scent.
- To express a general perception of fragrance, Italians prefer sentire il profumo.
Why do we put the definite article il before profumo? Can you say sento profumo without it?
Italian nouns almost always require a definite article:
- Il profumo (“the fragrance”) refers to that specific scent you’re perceiving.
- Dropping il (saying sento profumo without any article) sounds unnatural or overly generic in everyday speech.
How does dei work in profumo dei fiori? Why not delle or just di?
Dei is the contraction of di + i (“of the,” plural masculine). We use it because fiori is masculine plural.
- delle would pair with feminine plurals (e.g., delle rose).
- You could use just di (“profumo di fiori”), but that’s more poetic or indefinite. Profumo dei fiori clearly means “the fragrance of the flowers.”
Why is it in giardino (without an article) instead of nel giardino or al giardino?
Certain locations in Italian drop the article after common prepositions:
- in giardino (“in the garden”)
- a casa (“at home”)
- a scuola (“at school”)
Saying nel giardino focuses on a specific garden (“inside the garden we fenced”), while in giardino is the idiomatic way to state the location in general.
What’s the difference between profumo and odore?
- Profumo denotes a pleasant scent or fragrance.
- Odore is neutral and can refer to any smell, good or bad.
So sentire il profumo implies a pleasant experience, whereas sentire un odore could be either.
Could I say sento un buon profumo instead of sento il profumo dei fiori?
Yes.
- Sento un buon profumo = “I smell a nice fragrance” (more general).
- Sento il profumo dei fiori = “I smell the fragrance of the flowers” (specific source).
Can I change the word order to In giardino sento il profumo dei fiori?
Absolutely. Italian word order is flexible:
- Sento il profumo dei fiori in giardino
- In giardino sento il profumo dei fiori
Both are correct; placing in giardino first emphasizes the location.
How do you form dei, and are there other contractions like it?
Dei comes from di + i. Italian contracts di with articles as follows:
- di + il → del
- di + lo → dello
- di + la → della
- di + l’ → dell’
- di + i → dei
- di + gli → degli
- di + le → delle
These mean “of the” and match gender and number of the noun.