Oler Conjugation | How to Conjugate Oler in Spanish

Oler means “to smell.” You will learn its huelo / huele present family, regular past forms, huela subjunctive family, gerund oliendo, participle olido, and common smell constructions.

Oler conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Oler changes o → ue in stressed present forms and adds written h before ue: huelo — “I smell,” huele — “it smells.” Nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep ol-.

Oler gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle olido remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	oler	to smell
Gerund	oliendo	smelling
Past participle	olido	smelled

Oler meaning and essential uses

Oler can be transitive, meaning to perceive or deliberately identify a smell: Huelo el café. — “I smell the coffee.”

It can also be intransitive, meaning to give off a smell. A very common pattern is oler a + noun: La cocina huele a pan. — “The kitchen smells like / of bread.” RAE also records colloquial pronominal olerse for suspecting or guessing something.

Oler irregular conjugation patterns

Stressed present forms use huel-: huelo, hueles, huele, huelen. Nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep ol-: olemos, oléis.

The present subjunctive follows the same split: huela, huelas, huela, huelan but olamos, oláis. The preterite and other major families use ol-, and the non-finite forms are oliendo and olido.

Oler indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Oler present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. Stressed forms use huel-; nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras use ol-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	huelo	I smell
Tú — you, singular informal	hueles	you smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	huele	he / she smells; you smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	olemos	we smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oléis	you smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	huelen	they smell; you smell (plural)

• Huelo el café desde aquí. — I smell the coffee from here.

Oler preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	olí	I smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	oliste	you smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	olió	he / she smelled; you smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	olimos	we smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	olisteis	you smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olieron	they smelled; you smelled (plural)

• Ayer olí humo en el pasillo. — Yesterday I smelled smoke in the hallway.

Oler imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	olía	I used to smell / was smelling
Tú — you, singular informal	olías	you used to smell / were smelling
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	olía	he / she used to smell / was smelling; you used to smell / were smelling (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	olíamos	we used to smell / were smelling
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	olíais	you used to smell / were smelling (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olían	they used to smell / were smelling; you used to smell / were smelling (plural)

• Antes olía las flores del jardín cada mañana. — I used to smell the garden flowers every morning.

Oler present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus oliendo — “smelling.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy oliendo	I am smelling
Tú — you, singular informal	estás oliendo	you are smelling
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está oliendo	he / she is smelling; you are smelling (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos oliendo	we are smelling
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis oliendo	you are smelling (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están oliendo	they are smelling; you are smelling (plural)

• Estoy oliendo una especia que no reconozco. — I am smelling a spice I do not recognize.

Oler near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir — “to go” — plus a — “to” — and oler.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a oler	I am going to smell
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a oler	you are going to smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a oler	he / she is going to smell; you are going to smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a oler	we are going to smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a oler	you are going to smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a oler	they are going to smell; you are going to smell (plural)

• Voy a oler la leche antes de usarla. — I am going to smell the milk before using it.

Oler future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	oleré	I will smell
Tú — you, singular informal	olerás	you will smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	olerá	he / she will smell; you will smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	oleremos	we will smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oleréis	you will smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olerán	they will smell; you will smell (plural)

• Olerás el pan en cuanto entres. — You will smell the bread as soon as you enter.

Oler conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	olería	I would smell
Tú — you, singular informal	olerías	you would smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	olería	he / she would smell; you would smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	oleríamos	we would smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oleríais	you would smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olerían	they would smell; you would smell (plural)

• Olería mejor con menos perfume. — It would smell better with less perfume.

Oler present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he olido	I have smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	has olido	you have smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha olido	he / she has smelled; you have smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos olido	we have smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis olido	you have smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han olido	they have smelled; you have smelled (plural)

• He olido ese perfume antes. — I have smelled that perfume before.

Oler past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había olido	I had smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	habías olido	you had smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había olido	he / she had smelled; you had smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos olido	we had smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais olido	you had smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían olido	they had smelled; you had smelled (plural)

• Ya habíamos olido humo. — We had already smelled smoke.

Oler future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré olido	I will have smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás olido	you will have smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá olido	he / she will have smelled; you will have smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos olido	we will have smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis olido	you will have smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán olido	they will have smelled; you will have smelled (plural)

• Para entonces habrán olido todos los aromas. — By then they will have smelled all the aromas.

Oler conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría olido	I would have smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías olido	you would have smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría olido	he / she would have smelled; you would have smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos olido	we would have smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais olido	you would have smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían olido	they would have smelled; you would have smelled (plural)

• Habría olido el gas si hubiera estado allí. — I would have smelled the gas if I had been there.

Oler subjunctive conjugations

Oler present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. Stressed forms use huel-, while nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras use ol-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	huela	that I smell
Tú — you, singular informal	huelas	that you smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	huela	that he / she smell; that you smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	olamos	that we smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oláis	that you smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	huelan	that they smell; that you smell (plural)

• Espero que huela bien. — I hope it smells good.

Oler imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	oliera	that I smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	olieras	that you smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	oliera	that he / she smelled; that you smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	oliéramos	that we smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	olierais	that you smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olieran	that they smelled; that you smelled (plural)

• Querían que oliéramos cada muestra. — They wanted us to smell each sample.
• Era mejor que olieses el producto antes de comprarlo. — It was better for you to smell the product before buying it.

Oler future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. These rare reference forms share the same historical family as the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	oliere	if / when I should smell
Tú — you, singular informal	olieres	if / when you should smell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	oliere	if / when he / she should smell; if / when you should smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	oliéremos	if / when we should smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oliereis	if / when you should smell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	olieren	if / when they should smell; if / when you should smell (plural)

• Quien oliere humo deberá avisar inmediatamente. — Whoever should smell smoke must report it immediately.

Oler present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya olido	that I have smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas olido	that you have smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya olido	that he / she has smelled; that you have smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos olido	that we have smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis olido	that you have smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan olido	that they have smelled; that you have smelled (plural)

• Me alegra que haya olido bien. — I am glad it smelled good.

Oler past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera olido	that I had smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras olido	that you had smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera olido	that he / she had smelled; that you had smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos olido	that we had smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais olido	that you had smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran olido	that they had smelled; that you had smelled (plural)

• Si hubiéramos olido el gas antes, habríamos salido antes. — If we had smelled the gas earlier, we would have left sooner.
• Si hubieses olido esa fruta, habrías notado el problema. — If you had smelled that fruit, you would have noticed the problem.

Oler future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle olido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere olido	if / when I should have smelled
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres olido	if / when you should have smelled
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere olido	if / when he / she should have smelled; if / when you should have smelled (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos olido	if / when we should have smelled
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis olido	if / when you should have smelled (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren olido	if / when they should have smelled; if / when you should have smelled (plural)

• Si hubieren olido humo, deberán activar el protocolo. — If they should have smelled smoke, they must activate the protocol.

Oler imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Oler affirmative commands

Use the verified affirmative command forms for direct instructions when the target meaning supports them naturally.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	huele	smell
Usted — you, singular formal	huela	smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	olamos	let’s smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	oled	smell (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	huelan	smell (plural)

• Huele esta flor. — Smell this flower.

Oler negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no — “not / do not” — before the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no huelas	do not smell
Usted — you, singular formal	no huela	do not smell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no olamos	let’s not smell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no oláis	do not smell (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no huelan	do not smell (plural)

• No huelas directamente ese producto químico. — Do not smell that chemical directly.

Common constructions with Oler

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• oler algo. — to smell something.
• oler a + noun. — to smell like / of something.
• olerse que + clause. — to suspect / have a feeling that something will happen, colloquial.

Example sentences with Oler

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• La habitación huele a café. — The room smells like coffee.
• ¿Hueles el humo? — Do you smell the smoke?
• Estoy oliendo las especias. — I am smelling the spices.
• Espero que la comida huela bien. — I hope the food smells good.
• Me huelo que va a llover. — I have a feeling it is going to rain.
• Huele el producto antes de decidir. — Smell the product before deciding.

Regional and usage notes for Oler

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms in regions where vos — “you, singular informal” — is used.

• Vos olés el café desde aquí. — You smell the coffee from here. (voseo)
• Olé esta flor. — Smell this flower. (affirmative vos command)

For oler, separate the stressed huel- forms from the unstressed ol- forms. The preterite and most other tense families are regular, while present and present subjunctive require the visible hue- pattern.