smell
Base form
smell
/smel/
Past simple
smelled / smeltsmelled
/smeld/ /smelt//smeld/
Past participle
smelled / smeltsmelled
/smeld/ /smelt//smeld/
MeaningA2
to notice something with your nose
to smell a rat
In use
- After a modal verb · Form 1Can you smell gas in the kitchen?
- Negative · Form 1These flowers don’t smell of anything at all.
- Past simple · Form 2The whole house smelt of fresh bread this morning.The whole house smelled of fresh bread this morning.
- Past simple · Form 2Last night Tom smelt smoke and woke everyone up.Last night Tom smelled smoke and woke everyone up.
- Present perfect · Form 3I’ve never smelt anything as bad as that cheese.I’ve never smelled anything as bad as that cheese.
- Past perfect · Form 3The dog had smelt the sausages long before we unpacked them.The dog had smelled the sausages long before we unpacked them.
Watch out
Smelled is right everywhere; British English also says smelt. Smelld and smellt are wrong. Smelt is also a verb of its own: to get metal out of rock.
Same pattern
A — B — BForms two and three are the same
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