What Is The Past Tense Of Smell?
You may feel shocked by over 200 irregular verbs, including the verb run and the verb forsake. But it can be easier if you learn every lesson unit daily.
And today’s topic is smell in past tense. In short, it’s SMELT (S-M-E-L-T) or SMELLED (S-M-E-L-L-E-D). However, the latter is less common in both British and American English. We will dive into this question in our FAQ section in the final part.
To see all the verb forms for smell and smell past tense, please help check the table below:
| Basic Form/Derived Form (V1) | smell |
| Present Form/3rd Person/Singular Form (V2) | smells |
| Past Form (V3) | smelt/smelled |
| Past Participle Form (V4) | smelt/smelled |
| Present Participle/Gerund (V5) | smelling |
To learn more about the verb “smell”, please help check the video below:
The irregular verb ‘smell’ and related vocabulary.
How To Pronounce Smell Past Tense Correctly?
Here comes a short table depicting how to enunciate the verb smell and its other forms. What we provided is based on the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary:
|
Form of word |
Pronunciation |
|
|
British English |
American English | |
| smell | /smel/ |
/smel/ |
|
smells |
/smelz/ | /smelz/ |
| smelt | /smelt/ |
/smelt/ |
|
smelled |
/smeld/ | /smeld/ |
| smelling | /ˈsmelɪŋ/ |
/ˈsmelɪŋ/ |
How About The Meaning Of Smelt?
- To feel that one thing is going to happen or exists.
- Julia smells of trouble when doing this project.
- Julia smelt of trouble when doing this project.
- Julia had smelt of trouble since she began this project.
2. To have an unpleasant smell.
- As he hasn’t taken a shower for days, he begins to smell.
- He smelt as if he hadn’t taken a shower for days.
- He had smelt for two days.
3. To put someone’s nose to breathe in or near something so that they can identify or discover its smell.
- He smells her perfume and is captivated.
- He smelt her perfume and appreciated her option.
- He had smelt her perfume for a long time.
4. To be able to recognize and notice smells.
- I smell nothing as I have bad flu.
- I smelt nothing as I had bad flu.
- I had smelt nothing due to the bad flu.
5. To notice or recognize a particular smell.
- She smells gas when entering the kitchen.
- She smelt gas when entering the kitchen.
- She had smelt gas since she entered the kitchen.
6. To have a special smell.
- The villa smells of fresh polish and cedar wood.
- The villa smelt of fresh polish and cedar wood.
- The villa had smelt of fresh polish and cedar wood.
Past Tense For Smell: Vocabulary Quiz
FAQs
Past Participle Of Smell: What Is It?
The past tense of “smell” is “smelt”, as stated above.
Is Smelt The Past Tense Of Smell?
Yes. It’s correct. “Smelt” is also the past participle of “smell”. Besides that, “smelled” can be the alternative to “smelt” yet it’s less popular than “smelt”.
How Do You Spell Smell?
You can spell this irregular verb S-M-E-L-L.
What Are Some Idioms Using “Smell”?
- Smell a rat: To suspect that one thing is wrong about a particular case.
- Come out of/up something smelling of roses: To have a great reputation, though you have been engaged in something that could have given people a wrong opinion of you.
- For example: Nobody ever knew the details, and he came out of the deal smelling of roses.
- A rose by any other name would smell as sweet: What is vital is what things or people are, not what they are called.
- Wake up and smell the coffee: Mention that somebody becomes aware of what is occurring in a situation, especially when something is wrong or unpleasant.
Is It Smelling Or Smelt?
The correct answer is “is it smelt”. To explain, this sentence uses the passive voice. And you must utilize the “simple past tense” of “smell” – SMELT.
Is Spelt A Word?
Yes. Spelt is the past tense and past participle of “smell”.
Is Smell A Noun Or A Verb?
“Smell” can be a verb or a noun in a sentence. The noun “smell”, it can refer to these meanings:
- The act of smelling one thing.
- The capability to sense things with your nose.
- An unpleasant smell.
- The something’s quality that animals and people sense through their noses.
What Is The Difference Between Smelled And Smelt?
As stated, not many use “smelled” as the past tense of smell. It’s just used by a small part of American and Canadian English. Thus, “smelled” is often considered a misspelling of “smelt”.
All in all, a writer anywhere in North America can utilize “smelled” as it is the accurate spelling.
On the flip hand, “smelt” is exclusively in the British English language. Beyond that, both smelled and smelt are both acceptable spellings in British English.
His name is Benjamin Essek – The founder of Grammar Wiki. He is an English native speaker and has joined many English classes, learning communities to support other people with this common language as well.