Ein Filmabend mit Snacks

Do German sense verbs like “riechen” and “hören” need a preposition?

German often puts what you perceive straight after the verb: riechen (to smell), hören (to hear), and schmecken (to taste) can take a direct accusative object with no preposition — ich höre den Tiger (“I hear the tiger”), ich sehe den Vater (“I see the father”). That accusative marker is what changes: der Tiger becomes den Tiger the moment it’s what you’re hearing. But when you’re comparing a smell or taste to something else, German switches to wie or nach — es riecht wie Butter (“it smells like butter”) — the same way English needs “like” or “of” there too.

This lesson video builds the pattern around a family movie night: they hear the tiger (sie hören den Tiger) and see the father (sie sehen den Vater) with a plain accusative object, then switch construction once the popcorn’s smell gets compared to something else (es riecht wie Butter) — a good illustration of when German drops the preposition and when it needs one.