がする details
there is a sound, a smell, a sensation — an impression that arrives with nobody producing it
ねえ、なんか焦げ臭い匂いがしない?
nee, nanka kogekusai nioi ga shinai?
Hey, can't you smell something burning? casual
さっきから、台所の方から変な音がしています。
sakki kara, daidokoro no hou kara hen na oto ga shite imasu.
There has been a strange noise from the kitchen for a while now. neutral
- past
- polite
- polite past
- negative
Examples
there is a sound, a smell, a taste — an impression the speaker registers, with nobody made responsible for it
ねえ、なんか焦げ臭い匂いがしない?
nee, nanka kogekusai nioi ga shinai?
Hey, can't you smell something burning? casual
さっきから、台所の方から変な音がしています。
sakki kara, daidokoro no hou kara hen na oto ga shite imasu.
There has been a strange noise from the kitchen for a while now. neutral
このスープ、少し甘い味がしますね。
kono suupu, sukoshi amai aji ga shimasu ne.
This soup tastes a little sweet, doesn't it. neutral
客室では、ほのかに檜の香りがいたします。
kyakushitsu de wa, honoka ni hinoki no kaori ga itashimasu.
In the guest rooms there is a faint scent of cypress. formal
Formation
{N}がするattaches to noun
Notes
×色がする — and pain goes to 痛みがある instead.
Related patterns
Similar
ような気がする hedges an impression the speaker cannot back up and needs a whole clause in front of it; がする takes a bare sense word and reports what the senses caught — 音がした claims a sound was there, 音がしたような気がした concedes it may not have been.
Lookalikes
One particle apart on the same する — がする has no one performing it, where にする is somebody's choice, so 静かにする is an instruction to a person and 音がする reports an event nobody is credited with.