B2 Verbs of the Senses

B2 GRAMMAR · VERBS OF THE SENSES

Table For Two

PICTURE

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"Sounds strange, tastes incredible."

look / feel / smell / sound / taste + adjective, + like + noun, + as if + clause · seem

Listening

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

Judging a restaurant

Discuss in pairs.

1. How good are you at judging a restaurant before you eat there?

2. What do you notice first — the look, the smell, the sound, the menu?

3. Have you ever been completely wrong?

PICTURE

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B · LISTENING FOR GIST

Sixty-eight pounds a head

Jonah has booked a restaurant with amazing reviews. Mei is not convinced.

LISTEN ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

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1. What is the restaurant like?

2. Do Mei and Jonah decide to stay?

B · LISTENING · TAPESCRIPT

Table for two

MEI This is it? It looks closed.

JONAH It's not closed. The lights are on. It just looks a bit... minimal.

MEI It looks like a dentist's waiting room. Jonah, there's nobody in there.

JONAH It's six o'clock. Nobody eats at six. Come on, it had amazing reviews. Sixty-eight pounds a head.

MEI Sixty-eight— OK. Fine. (door) Hm. It smells nice, at least. It smells like woodsmoke.

JONAH See? That's the grill. That's authentic.

WAITER Good evening. Do you have a reservation?

JONAH Yes — Jonah Reyes, for two.

WAITER Ah. Please, follow me.

MEI (whispering) He seems very serious. He looks as if he's going to a funeral.

JONAH He's being professional.

MEI Why is the chair so low? I feel like a child. And it feels like plastic. Sixty-eight pounds and plastic chairs.

JONAH It's designer plastic. Just read the menu.

MEI "Charcoal. Root. Smoke." That's not a menu, that's three words. Jonah, it sounds as though they've forgotten to write the rest.

JONAH It's a tasting menu. They bring what they bring.

MEI What if they bring charcoal?

WAITER Your first course. Burnt leek, ash, and whey.

B · LISTENING · TAPESCRIPT (continued)

Table for two

MEI ...It looks like something from a fireplace.

JONAH Just try it. (pause) Well?

MEI ...Huh. It tastes sweet. It actually tastes really good. It tastes like... caramel? How does a burnt leek taste like caramel?

JONAH That's what the reviews said. "Sounds strange, tastes incredible."

MEI OK. OK, I take it back. Partly. (pause) Jonah. Jonah, do you smell that?

JONAH It's the grill.

MEI No, that smells like something's actually burning. Like, properly.

WAITER (hurrying past) Nothing to worry about!

MEI He seemed worried. He sounded as if something was very much to worry about.

JONAH (alarm sounds) OK, that sounds like the fire alarm.

MEI It is the fire alarm.

WAITER Ladies and gentlemen — if you could make your way outside — calmly —

MEI We're the only ladies and gentlemen, mate.

JONAH (outside) Right. Well. That's sixty-eight pounds we've saved.

MEI I feel like a pizza.

JONAH You look like someone who's never going to let me choose a restaurant again.

MEI Now you're getting it.

C · COMPREHENSION

Listen again. Right or wrong? Correct the wrong ones.

1. Mei's first impression of the restaurant is positive.

2. The restaurant smells of woodsmoke because of the grill.

3. The waiter seems cheerful and relaxed.

4. The first dish looks unappetising but tastes good.

5. The fire alarm turns out to be a false alarm.

6. At the end, Mei wants to go home.

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Three patterns, and two tricky pairs

a) It looks closed. It smells nice. It tastes sweet. He seemed worried.

b) It looks like a dentist's waiting room. It smells like woodsmoke. It feels like plastic.

c) He looks as if he's going to a funeral. It sounds as though they've forgotten the rest. That smells like something's burning.

d) He seems very serious. vs He looks as if he's going to a funeral.

e) I feel like a child. vs I feel like a pizza.

1. In (a), what kind of word follows the sense verb — a noun, an adjective or an adverb? Can we say It tastes sweetly?

2. In (b), what follows the sense verb? Which word links them?

3. In (c), what follows as if / as though — a noun or a full clause (subject + verb)? Which other word can replace as if in informal English?

4. In (d), which verb describes the specific impression we get from his appearance? Which describes a general impression? Can seem also be followed by like + noun and as if + clause?

5. In (e), which feel like means "I have the sensation of being..."? Which means "I want"? What can follow feel like in that second meaning — a noun, a gerund, or both?

D · THE RULES

Complete the rules

Complete with adjective, like, as if, look or seem.

• look / feel / smell / sound / taste / seem + ________ : You look tired.

• look / feel / smell / sound / taste / seem + ________ + noun (phrase): It tastes like tea.

• look / feel / smell / sound / taste / seem + ________ / as though / like + clause: It sounds as if it's raining.

• We use ________ for the specific impression from someone's appearance; we use ________ for a general impression (not necessarily appearance).

• feel like + noun / gerund can also mean want / would like: I feel like pasta. I don't feel like cooking.

CAREFUL

After a sense verb we need an adjective, never an adverb: It tastes good, NOT It tastes well.

D · CAREFUL

The many uses of as

As is one of the hardest small words in English. Match each sentence (1-5) with the use it shows (a-e).

1. She works as a waiter.

2. It's as cold as January.

3. As it was raining, we stayed in.

4. As they were leaving, the alarm went off.

5. I like sharp cheeses, such as Cheddar.

a) comparison

b) job or function

c) reason (= because)

d) at the same time (= when)

e) example (after such)

E · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Match the sentence halves.

1. That restaurant looks ____

2. The waiter seems like ____

3. This sauce tastes ____

4. The starter looks as if ____

5. Your new jacket feels ____

6. It smells as though ____

7. That sounds like ____

8. The dessert tastes like ____

9. He sounded ____

10. The kitchen smells like ____

a) somebody's burnt the toast.

b) incredibly soft.

c) a fire alarm to me.

d) the chef has thrown it on the plate.

e) expensive.

f) a nice guy.

g) really annoyed on the phone.

h) burnt sugar — in a good way.

i) far too salty.

j) a bakery.

E · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Circle the correct form.

11. You've gone very pale. You look / look as if you've seen a ghost.

12. What's in the oven? It smells / smells like amazing.

13. I think the taxi's here. That sounds / sounds like a car outside.

14. This "chicken" tastes / tastes like fish. I'm not convinced.

15. Can we open a window? It feels / feels like really stuffy in here.

16. You seem / seem like quiet tonight. Is everything OK?

17. These sheets feel / feel like real silk — are they?

18. The milk tastes / tastes as if a bit strange. When did you buy it?

19. It smells / smells as though someone's been smoking in here.

20. I don't feel / feel like cooking tonight. Shall we order something?

F · FREER PRACTICE

Sensory review

In pairs, describe a restaurant, cafe or dish you've had recently — without naming it — using all five senses.

• It looked like... It smelled as if... It tasted... The place seemed...

• Your partner guesses whether you'd recommend it, then asks two follow-up questions. Then swap.

• As a class: whose description made you feel like eating, and whose made you feel like leaving?

• Writing (optional homework): A 100-120-word review of the worst (or best) meal of your life. Use at least six sense-verb structures across the three patterns, and one seem.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B GIST An expensive, minimalist tasting-menu restaurant with plastic chairs, a grim waiter and a three-word menu; the food tastes surprisingly good, but a real fire sets off the alarm and they leave without eating.

C 1 Wrong — she thinks it looks closed, like a dentist's waiting room. 2 Right. 3 Wrong — he seems very serious, as if going to a funeral. 4 Right. 5 Wrong — something really is burning; they are evacuated. 6 Wrong — she feels like (wants) a pizza.

D 1 An adjective; no. 2 A noun (phrase); like. 3 A full clause; like. 4 Look = the specific impression from appearance; seem = a general impression; yes (seems like a nice man / seems as if...). 5 I feel like a child = sensation; I feel like a pizza = want; both a noun or a gerund.

RULES adjective; like; as if; look; seem.

AS 1 b (job or function) · 2 a (comparison) · 3 c (reason) · 4 d (at the same time) · 5 e (example).

E MATCHING 1 e (expensive) · 2 f (a nice guy) · 3 i (far too salty) · 4 d (the chef has thrown it on the plate) · 5 b (incredibly soft) · 6 a (somebody's burnt the toast) · 7 c (a fire alarm to me) · 8 h (burnt sugar) · 9 g (really annoyed on the phone) · 10 j (a bakery).

E 11-20 11 look as if · 12 smells · 13 sounds like · 14 tastes like · 15 feels · 16 seem · 17 feel like · 18 tastes · 19 smells as though · 20 feel like