The Verb "Smell" in English

Conjugation of "To Smell"

The verb "smell" is an irregular verb. (This means that "smell" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Smell"

Form	smell	Alternative Name
Base Form	smell	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	smells	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	smelt (also smelled)	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	smelling	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	smelt (also smelled)	[no alternative name]

"To Smell" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "smell" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	smelt (also smelled) smelt (also smelled) smelt (also smelled) smelt (also smelled) smelt (also smelled) smelt (also smelled) The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was smelling were smelling was smelling were smelling were smelling were smelling The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had smelt (also smelled) had smelt (also smelled) had smelt (also smelled) had smelt (also smelled) had smelt (also smelled) had smelt (also smelled) The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been smelling had been smelling had been smelling had been smelling had been smelling had been smelling The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	smell smell smells smell smell smell The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am smelling are smelling is smelling are smelling are smelling are smelling The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have smelt (also smelled) have smelt (also smelled) has smelt (also smelled) have smelt (also smelled) have smelt (also smelled) have smelt (also smelled) The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been smelling have been smelling has been smelling have been smelling have been smelling have been smelling The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will smell will smell will smell will smell will smell will smell The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be smelling will be smelling will be smelling will be smelling will be smelling will be smelling The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have smelt (also smelled) will have smelt (also smelled) will have smelt (also smelled) will have smelt (also smelled) will have smelt (also smelled) will have smelt (also smelled) The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been smelling will have been smelling will have been smelling will have been smelling will have been smelling will have been smelling The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.