Thursday, October 19, 2017

meaning - Difference between かおり and におい


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  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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