In a TV show I am watching (孤独のグルメ, perhaps many of you have heard of it) the gentleman is about to drink some coffee but pauses to savour the aroma. He says
いい かおり だ
Which I translate as "good aroma". Am I right in saying that におい is simply "smell"?
So perhaps
台所から においに来ています a smell is coming from the kitchen
and
台所から かおりに来ています an aroma is coming from the kitchen
(this may not be correct Japanese, please correct me)
So in example #2 it is implied there is a nice smell like food is cooking ("aroma") but in example #1 something could be burning or rotting.
Answer
Yes, におい
is just "a smell". It is in fact neutral, but without いい
in front of it, I usually perceive it as a bad one (as I also do with "smell" in English). Like if you say, "What a smell!" in English, I think most people would take this to mean a bad smell rather than a good one.
Also, to say "smells" or "producing a smell", the form is におい・かおり が する.
- 台所はにおいがしています。 → A smell is coming from the kitchen.
- 台所はかおりがしています。 → An aroma/good smell is coming from the kitchen.
Note that you will often hear いいかおり
even though it's kind of redundant.
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