Present
Presente · now, habits and facts
- yo I smell
- tú you smell
- usted, él, ella he/she smells
- nosotros we smell
- vosotros Spain you all smell
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they smell
SPANISH VERB
oler
to smell
- Irregular -er verb
- Gerund: oliendo
- Past participle: olido
Conjugation
Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.
Past
Pretérito indefinido · finished actions
- yo I smelled
- tú you smelled
- usted, él, ella he/she smelled
- nosotros we smelled
- vosotros Spain you all smelled
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they smelled
Imperfect
Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”
- yo I used to smell
- tú you used to smell
- usted, él, ella he/she used to smell
- nosotros we used to smell
- vosotros Spain you all used to smell
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to smell
Future
Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common
- yo I will smell
- tú you will smell
- usted, él, ella he/she will smell
- nosotros we will smell
- vosotros Spain you all will smell
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they will smell
Conditional
Condicional · “would”
- yo I would smell
- tú you would smell
- usted, él, ella he/she would smell
- nosotros we would smell
- vosotros Spain you all would smell
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they would smell
Present subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”
- yo (that) I smell
- tú (that) you smell
- usted, él, ella (that) he/she smell
- nosotros (that) we smell
- vosotros Spain (that) you all smell
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they smell
Past subjunctive
Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”
- yo (if) I smelled
- tú (if) you smelled
- usted, él, ella (if) he/she smelled
- nosotros (if) we smelled
- vosotros Spain (if) you all smelled
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they smelled
Imperative
Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)
- tú smell!
- usted smell! (formal)
- nosotros smell! (let’s)
- vosotros Spain smell! (all of you)
- ustedes smell! (all of you)
How to use oler
One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.
-
Present
La cocina huele a pan recién hecho.
The kitchen smells like freshly baked bread.
-
Past
Olí el humo y salí corriendo.
I smelled the smoke and ran out.
-
Imperfect
La casa de mi abuela olía a canela.
My grandmother's house smelled of cinnamon.
-
Future
Con estas flores, el cuarto olerá delicioso.
With these flowers, the room will smell delicious.
-
Conditional
Sin la basura, el patio olería mejor.
Without the trash, the patio would smell better.
-
Present subjunctive
Abre la ventana para que no huela a pescado.
Open the window so it doesn't smell like fish.
-
Past subjunctive
Si oliera a gas, saldríamos de inmediato.
If it smelled like gas, we'd leave right away.
-
Imperative
¡Huele estas fresas, qué ricas!
Smell these strawberries, they're so good!
Good to know
- "Oler a" is to smell of something: "huele a café"; "oler bien" or "oler mal" is how it smells.
Where you hear oler
The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.
Spanish · Beginner Level 2
- Las flores huelen muy bien. The flowers smell very good.
- El pan olía muy bien. The bread smelled very good.
- La cocina va a oler a chocolate. The kitchen is going to smell of chocolate.
Spanish · Advanced Level 2
- ¿Oléis el azahar? Can you smell the orange blossom?
- Esta mañana ha olido a incienso toda la calle. This morning the whole street smelled of incense.
- En mayo va a oler a jazmín. In May it's going to smell of jasmine.
21
What Is the Day of the Dead?
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22
Beginner Level 2 · huelen
What Do You Think?
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19
Beginner Level 2 · huele
It Smells of Orange Blossom
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23
Advanced Level 2 · ¿Lo oléis? · huele a · cuando huele así
It's Not Spicy at All
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10
Advanced Level 3 · huele a Navidad
Like Water in August
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Fluency Level 2 · Ya lo huelo.
Verbs like this one
The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -er verb.