Past tense of smell! The verb smell has two past forms: one is regular, and the other is irregular. The past tense of smell is either smelled or smelt. Both are correct to use. It has the same past participle or V3, i.e., smelled smelt. In this blog post, you’ll learn the forms of smell with conjugation examples.
Read: Past Tense of Sing in English
Meaning: to notice something with the nose
Forms of the Verb Smell (V1, V2, & V3)
| Present Form/V1 | Past Form/V2 | Past Participle/V3 |
| Smell (smells 3rd person singular) | Smelled/Smelt | Smelled/Smelt |
Verbs Smell Conjugation Active
Present Simple Tense
- I/We smell
- He/She/It smells
- You/They smell
Past Simple Tense
- I smelled/smelt
- We smelled/smelt
- You smelled/smelt
- He/She/It smelled/smelt
- They smelled/smelt
Future Simple Tense
- I/We will smell
- He/She/It v smell
- You/They will smell
Present Perfect Tense
- I have smelled/smelt
- We have smelled/smelt
- You have smelled/smelt
- He/She/It has smelled/smelt
- They have smelled/smelt
Past Perfect Tense
- I had smelled/smelt
- We had smelled/smelt
- You had smelled/smelt
- He/She/It had smelled/smelt
- They had smelled/smelt
Future Perfect Tense
- I will have smelled/smelt
- We will have smelled/smelt
- You will have smelled/smelt
- He/She/It will have smelled/smelt
- They will have smelled/smelt
Verbs Smell Conjugation Passive
Present Simple Tense
- I am smelled/smelt
- We are smelled/smelt
- You are smelled/smelt
- He/She/It is smelled/smelt
- They are smelled/smelt
Past Simple Tense
- I was smelled/smelt
- We were smelled/smelt
- You were smelled/smelt
- He/She/It was smelled/smelt
- They were smelled/smelt
Future Simple Tense
- I will be smelled/smelt
- We s be smelled/smelt
- You will be smelled/smelt
- He/She/It be smelled/smelt
- They will be smelled/smelt
Present Perfect Tense
- I have been smelled/smelt
- We have been smelled/smelt
- You have been smelled/smelt
- He/She/It has been smelled/smelt
- They have been smelled/smelt
Past Perfect Tense
- I had been smelled/smelt
- We had been smelled/smelt
- You had been smelled/smelt
- He/She/It had been smelled/smelt
- They had been smelled/smelt
Future Perfect Tense
- I will have been smelled/smelt
- We will have been smelled/smelt
- You will have been smelled/smelt
- He/She/It will have been smelled/smelt
- They will have been smelled/smelt
Note: Verb smell is not used in the progressive tenses
Verb Smell Example Sentences
- That bread smells good.
- There is something in the kitchen that smells mouldy.
- Many people’s feet smell in the summer season.
- I loved the smell of all the roses.
- I smell something burning.
- I smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.
- The kitchen smelled of onions.
- Can you smell the eggs?
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