Lugte | Danish Grammar

Lugte is the Danish verb for to smell. Like its English counterpart, it covers both how a thing smells (det lugter godt — "it smells good") and the act of sniffing (lugte til blomsten — "smell the flower"). It belongs to the same perception-verb family as smage ("to taste") and uses the same preposition, af, to name a smell. The one thing English does not prepare you for is that Danish reserves a separate verb, dufte, for pleasant smells — so the choice between lugte and dufte carries real meaning.

Principal parts

Danish verbs take one form per tense with no person agreement whatsoever. Jeg lugter, du lugter, huset lugter, de lugter — the verb stays put no matter the subject. There is nothing like the English third-person -s to track.

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) lugte	to smell
Present	lugter	smell(s)
Past	lugtede	smelled
Past participle	lugtet	smelled
Imperative	lugt!	smell!

Lugte is a regular weak verb of the -ede class (group 1): past lugtede, participle lugtet. This is the larger and more "default" of the two Danish weak classes — when in doubt, a new or borrowed verb usually joins it. Note the contrast with smage, which takes the -te class (past smagte). The two perception verbs share a meaning pattern but not a conjugation class — a reminder that you memorise the class with each verb.

💡

The present is simply the infinitive plus -r: lugte → lugter. One form covers every subject — "I smell," "it smells," "they smell."

Present tense

Lugter describes both how something smells and a person actively smelling.

Der lugter dejligt herinde — har du bagt brød?

It smells lovely in here — have you baked bread?

Hunden lugter til alt, hvad den møder på vejen.

The dog smells everything it meets on the way.

Lugter der ikke lidt brændt?

Doesn't it smell a bit burnt?

Notice the very common impersonal construction der lugter ("it smells"), used when no particular thing is the subject — much like English "it smells in here."

Past tense

The past is lugtede.

Hele lejligheden lugtede af maling i flere dage.

The whole apartment smelled of paint for several days.

Jeg lugtede til mælken, men den var helt frisk.

I smelled the milk, but it was completely fresh.

Perfect tense

The perfect uses har plus the participle lugtet. Lugte describes a state or an activity, not a movement or change, so it always takes har — never er.

Det har lugtet underligt i køleskabet hele ugen.

It has smelled strange in the fridge all week.

Har du nogensinde lugtet til en durian? Den er ikke til at glemme.

Have you ever smelled a durian? It's unforgettable.

The key construction: lugte AF

Just like smage af, Danish names a smell with lugte af + noun — not lugte som. English "smell like" tempts you toward som, but som in Danish signals a comparison of resemblance, not a smell, and it sounds wrong to a native ear.

Her lugter af røg.

It smells of smoke here.

Hans jakke lugtede af våd hund.

His jacket smelled of wet dog.

Køkkenet lugter af kanel og æbler.

The kitchen smells of cinnamon and apples.

Sniffing: lugte TIL

To say someone takes a deliberate sniff of something, use lugte til + noun. This parallels smage på: til marks the object you bring to your nose.

Lugt lige til den her ost — jeg tror, den er for gammel.

Just smell this cheese — I think it's too old.

Barnet lugtede nysgerrigt til blomsterne.

The child curiously smelled the flowers.

Lugte vs. dufte — neutral vs. pleasant

Here is the distinction that English collapses but Danish keeps. Lugte is the neutral, all-purpose smell verb — and on its own it often leans negative, implying a bad or noticeable smell. Dufte is reserved for pleasant smells; it always means "smell good." So huset dufter ("the house smells nice") is a compliment, while huset lugter ("the house smells") hints at a problem.

Verb	Connotation	Example
lugte	neutral, often negative	Der lugter i kælderen. (There's a smell in the basement.)
lugte godt / af noget godt	made positive by what follows	Maden lugter godt. (The food smells good.)
dufte	always pleasant	Rosene dufter vidunderligt. (The roses smell wonderful.)

Blomsterne dufter, men skraldespanden lugter.

The flowers smell nice, but the bin smells (bad).

💡

If you can pair the smell with godt ("good") or use dufte, you signal a pleasant smell. Bare lugte with no positive word attached often implies something is off — exactly the opposite of neutral English "it smells."

The related nouns track the same split: en lugt is "a smell" (neutral or bad), while en duft is "a scent, a fragrance" (pleasant).

A short dialogue

— Der lugter mærkeligt herinde. Lugter du det også?

— It smells strange in here. Do you smell it too?

— Ja, det lugter af gammelt affald. Men hov — kaffen dufter da skønt.

— Yes, it smells of old rubbish. But wait — the coffee smells delightful, though.

— Lugt lige til den her karton mælk, før du drikker af den.

— Just smell this carton of milk before you drink from it.

Common mistakes

❌ Det lugter som kaffe.

Incorrect — 'smell like' rendered word-for-word; som compares resemblance, not a smell.

✅ Det lugter af kaffe.

It smells of coffee.

❌ Roserne lugter vidunderligt.

Acceptable but odd — lugte leans negative; for a pleasant scent use dufte.

✅ Roserne dufter vidunderligt.

The roses smell wonderful.

❌ Lugt min nye parfume.

Incorrect — when sniffing something you need the preposition til.

✅ Lugt til min nye parfume.

Smell my new perfume.

❌ Det har lugtede underligt.

Incorrect — the perfect uses the participle lugtet, not the past tense lugtede.

✅ Det har lugtet underligt.

It has smelled strange.

❌ Huset lugteder af blomster.

Incorrect — the present is lugter, with a plain -r.

✅ Huset lugter af blomster.

The house smells of flowers.

Key takeaways

Lugte never changes for person: lugter serves every subject in the present.
It is an -ede weak verb: lugte / lugter / lugtede / lugtet, perfect with har.
Name a smell with lugte af
- noun (not som).
Take a sniff with lugte til
- noun.
Use dufte for pleasant smells; bare lugte often implies a bad one.

Lugte sits beside smage in the family of Danish perception verbs, and both lean on af to name what is sensed. You will find them together in the vocabulary of senses and feelings, alongside føle for touch and emotion.

Now practice Danish

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Danish→