gevoel vs sensation
Dutch word comparison
Listen to gevoel
Listen to sensation
| gevoel | sensation |
|---|---|
GHEH-veel noun | sen-sah-tsyuhn noun |
| The experience of emotion or physical sensation; how something feels. | a physical sensation or bodily feeling |
How they differ
"Sensation" is much more specific than "gevoel" because it focuses on bodily experience only, not emotions or intuition. In Dutch, it is often used in medical, descriptive, or technical contexts rather than for everyday emotional feelings.
When to use each
When to use gevoel: Use "gevoel" when the experience may be emotional, intuitive, or physical.
When to use sensation: Use "sensation" when you mean a concrete bodily feeling such as pain, tingling, or numbness.
Side-by-side examples
- Ze had een vreemd gevoel in haar arm.
(She had a strange feeling in her arm.) - Ze had een vreemde sensation in haar arm.
(She had a strange bodily sensation in her arm.)
Register & nuance: "Sensation" sounds more technical and less natural in casual speech than "gevoel".