"Distinguish" and "differentiate" are both good here. They both match the tone of the sentence well, but have slightly different meanings. "Discern" also works well. "Tell" is okay too, but is a less classy, more childish way of speaking, since it's a much simpler and more common word that's also more vague, carrying multiple meanings. So it doesn't match the tone so nicely. But if you remove the word "that" and adjust the ending a bit, as in "she said she could tell what wine it is by smelling it" then "tell" matches this basic tone perfectly. Discriminate is not a word people tend to use for sentences like this. It usually carries a negative connotation. When people think of discrimination, they usually think of racism and similar "hate crimes". This may have been different a few decades ago - the world has gone a bit mad with political correctness lately. Having said that, it can still technically work today, it's just not such a natural usage. If you really want to use it, I would recommend assisting it by adding the word "between". For example: "She said that she could discriminate between different types of wine by smelling them". Adding "between" like this, also improves the clarity of the sentence when using any of the other word options, but it's less necessary in those cases.

Hi Barry. We wouldn’t use discriminate in this context, as it’s a negative word. Distinguish usually gets used when it’s a comparison. It would imply you have more than one bottles of wine and you’re trying to find the difference between them. Same with differentiate. So in this sentence I would prefer tell, or you could say identify.

The sentence is vague and awkward and none of them are really very good. What is probably meant is: She said she could identify wines by smelling them. She said she could identify wines by smell. She said she could identify wines by their aroma/smell. You can also add the word ‘just’ after ‘wines’. This is more precise than ‘only’ You can create valid sentences using the other verbs, if you change them. For example She said she could tell what wine it is just by smelling it.

In this context, the most natural and commonly used verb is "tell", as in: "She said that she could tell the wine only by smelling it." The verb "tell" is often used in informal speech to express being able to recognize or distinguish something based on a sense or intuition. The other verbs are also correct but may feel more formal or specific: Discriminate: This has a more technical or analytical connotation and may sound too formal for casual conversation. Distinguish: Common and natural, but it suggests focusing on noticing differences between two or more items, rather than identifying something on its own. Differentiate: Similar to "distinguish," this verb implies a comparison between items, which may not be necessary if the sentence focuses on recognizing one wine alone. For casual, everyday conversation, "tell" works best. If you're aiming for a more formal tone or focusing on comparing multiple wines, "distinguish" or "differentiate" could work.