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GERMAN VERB

riechen

to smell

  • #253 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: gerochen

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I smell
  2. du you smell
  3. er, sie, es he/she smells
  4. wir we smell
  5. ihr you all smell
  6. sie, Sie they smell

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I smelled
  2. du you smelled
  3. er, sie, es he/she smelled
  4. wir we smelled
  5. ihr you all smelled
  6. sie, Sie they smelled

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have smelled
  2. du you have smelled
  3. er, sie, es he/she has smelled
  4. wir we have smelled
  5. ihr you all have smelled
  6. sie, Sie they have smelled

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will smell
  2. du you will smell
  3. er, sie, es he/she will smell
  4. wir we will smell
  5. ihr you all will smell
  6. sie, Sie they will smell

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would smell
  2. du you would smell
  3. er, sie, es he/she would smell
  4. wir we would smell
  5. ihr you all would smell
  6. sie, Sie they would smell

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du smell!
  2. ihr smell! (all of you)
  3. Sie smell! (formal)

How to use riechen

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Hier riecht es nach frischem Brot.

    It smells of fresh bread here.

  2. Simple past

    Die Küche roch nach Zimt und Äpfeln.

    The kitchen smelled of cinnamon and apples.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du das Gas gerochen?

    Did you smell the gas?

  4. Future

    Mit der Erkältung wirst du nichts riechen.

    With that cold you won't smell anything.

  5. Conditional

    Ohne Fenster würde es hier schnell schlecht riechen.

    Without a window it would soon smell bad in here.

  6. Imperative

    Riech mal an dieser Seife!

    Smell this soap!

Good to know

  • Riechen is both smelling something and giving off a smell, es riecht nach Kaffee; "nach" says what it smells of.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.