嗅ぎます（かぎます、kagimasu）
- to smell

The Japanese word 嗅ぎます, read as かぎます (kagimasu), means "to smell" or "to sniff." It refers to the act of using your nose to detect odors or scents. This verb describes the action of perceiving a smell. It implies an active process of bringing the scent into your nose and becoming aware of it.

⚫︎花を嗅ぎます Translation: I smell the flower. ⚫︎料理のにおいを嗅ぎます Translation: I smell the aroma of the food. ⚫︎犬が地面を嗅ぎます Translation: The dog is sniffing the ground.

You use 嗅ぎます in situations where you are actively using your sense of smell. It's often used when talking about enjoying a fragrance, investigating an unknown scent, or checking for something like smoke. Remember to use the particle を (o) before the object you are smelling. For example, コーヒーのにおい (koohii no nioi - the smell of coffee), and それを嗅ぎます (sore o kagimasu - I smell it).

⚫︎The verb is typically written in hiragana as かぎます. ⚫︎The kanji form is 嗅ぎます. ⚫︎The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is standard and doesn't usually vary.

There aren't many direct synonyms for "to smell" in Japanese that have the same nuance of actively smelling. However, a related word, indicating the state of smelling, would be: ⚫︎においがする (nioi ga suru): This means "to have a smell" or "to smell." It describes the presence of a scent, rather than the action of smelling.

⚫︎There is no single direct antonym for 嗅ぎます. However, the opposite action or a word indicating a lack of smell would be: ⚫︎においがしない (nioi ga shinai): This means "to not smell" or "to have no smell."

この香水を嗅ぎますと、リラックスできます。 ・Translation: When I smell this perfume, I can relax. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the action of smelling a perfume and the resulting effect.

火事のにおいがしたので、煙を嗅ぎますました。 ・Translation: Because I smelled a fire, I sniffed the smoke. ・Explanation: This sentence describes sniffing the smoke as a result of detecting the smell of a fire.

The kanji 嗅 (kyuu) combines the radical 口 (kuchi - mouth) with the phonetic component 臭 (shuu - odor). The verb form, 嗅ぎます, directly implies the action of perceiving something through the nose, relating to the mouth and scent.