schmecken

German

Etymology

From Middle High German smecken, from Old High German smecchen, from Proto-West Germanic *smakkijan (to taste), from Proto-West Germanic *smakku (a taste). Compare English smack and smatch, as well as Lithuanian smagù (cheerful, enjoyable, pleasant).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈʃmɛkn̩], [ˈʃmɛkŋ̩]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛkn̩

Verb

schmecken (weak, third-person singular present schmeckt, past tense schmeckte, past participle geschmeckt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (copulative) to taste [with adjective ‘good, bad, sweet, salty, etc.’ or nach (+ dative) ‘like something’]
    Das Bier schmeckt sehr gut.
    The beer tastes very good.
    Igitt, dieser Wein schmeckt nach Essig.
    Yuck, this wine tastes like vinegar.
  2. to enjoy (the taste of something)
    Hat es geschmeckt?
    Did you enjoy it (the food)?
  3. (intransitive) to taste good [(sometimes) with dative]
    Igitt! Das schmeckt nicht.
    Yuck! That tastes bad.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • schmecken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • schmecken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • schmecken” in Duden online
  • schmecken” in OpenThesaurus.de