A mirosi means to smell — and it covers both directions English splits apart: actively smelling something (miros florile, "I smell the flowers") and giving off a smell (florile miros frumos, "the flowers smell nice"). It is a plain fourth-conjugation verb (short infinitive in -i), one of the -i verbs that takes no -esc- infix in the present — which makes it less regular-looking than the -esc majority and means you have to learn its forms more carefully.
Two stem alternations make this verb worth a close look. First, o→oa in the stressed 3rd person: the stem miros- diphthongizes to miroase when the stress falls on it. Second, s→ș before the 2nd-person -i: miros but miroși ("you smell"). Both are regular sound changes in Romanian, but together they make the present paradigm look more irregular than it is.
Prezent indicativ
The stem is miros-. Watch the two alternations: 2sg miroși (s→ș), 3sg/3pl miroase (o→oa). Note also that — like many plain -i verbs — the 1st singular and 3rd plural fall together as miros.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | miros |
| tu | miroși |
| el / ea | miroase |
| noi | mirosim |
| voi | mirosiți |
| ei / ele | miros |
Florile astea miros minunat.
These flowers smell wonderful.
Miroase a cafea proaspătă în toată casa.
It smells of fresh coffee all over the house.
Imperfect
The plain -i verbs build the imperfect on -ea: the stem miros- plus -eam, giving miroseam, miroseai, mirosea... The o→oa and s→ș alternations disappear here — the imperfect has one stable stem.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | miroseam |
| tu | miroseai |
| el / ea | mirosea |
| noi | miroseam |
| voi | miroseați |
| ei / ele | miroseau |
Toată bucătăria mirosea a scorțișoară de sărbători.
The whole kitchen smelled of cinnamon at the holidays.
Perfect compus
The everyday past, with the auxiliary a avea plus the participle mirosit.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am mirosit |
| tu | ai mirosit |
| el / ea | a mirosit |
| noi | am mirosit |
| voi | ați mirosit |
| ei / ele | au mirosit |
Am mirosit imediat că ceva nu e în regulă.
I immediately smelled that something was off.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
The synthetic pluperfect on the participle stem mirosise-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | mirosisem |
| tu | mirosiseși |
| el / ea | mirosise |
| noi | mirosiserăm |
| voi | mirosiserăți |
| ei / ele | mirosiseră |
Câinele mirosise urma cu mult înainte să o vedem noi.
The dog had smelled the trail long before we saw it.
Viitor
Formal voi + infinitive; colloquial o să + conjunctiv.
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi mirosi | o să miros |
| tu | vei mirosi | o să miroși |
| el / ea | va mirosi | o să miroasă |
| noi | vom mirosi | o să mirosim |
| voi | veți mirosi | o să mirosiți |
| ei / ele | vor mirosi | o să miroasă |
Dacă lași geamul deschis, o să miroasă a ploaie toată camera.
If you leave the window open, the whole room will smell of rain.
Conjunctiv prezent
In the subjunctive, the 3rd person takes the ending -ă and keeps the o→oa diphthong: (să) miroasă. The other persons match the indicative.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să miros |
| tu | să miroși |
| el / ea | să miroasă |
| noi | să mirosim |
| voi | să mirosiți |
| ei / ele | să miroasă |
Vreau ca toată casa să miroasă a curat când vin musafirii.
I want the whole house to smell clean when the guests arrive.
Imperativ
The affirmative singular imperative is miroase! (identical to the 3sg); the plural is mirosiți! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu mirosi!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | miroase! | nu mirosi! |
| voi (pl.) | mirosiți! | nu mirosiți! |
Miroase puțin laptele, cred că s-a stricat.
Smell the milk a bit, I think it's gone off.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) mirosi |
| Gerunziu | mirosind |
| Participiu | mirosit |
| Supin | de mirosit |
Usage
The crucial split is between transitive ("smell something," with a direct object) and intransitive ("smell of / smell like something," with the preposition a).
Transitive — you actively smell an object:
Miros un parfum scump, cine a intrat?
I smell an expensive perfume — who came in?
Lasă-mă să miros trandafirii înainte să-i cumpărăm.
Let me smell the roses before we buy them.
Intransitive — something gives off a smell of something, marked by a (here meaning "of"):
Miroase a ars! Ai uitat ceva pe aragaz?
It smells burnt! Did you leave something on the stove?
Hainele tale miros a fum de țigară.
Your clothes smell of cigarette smoke.
Figuratively, a mirosi ceva means to sense or suspect something — to "smell a rat":
Am mirosit de la început că e o capcană.
I smelled from the start that it was a trap.
Source-language note for English speakers
English uses one verb "smell" for two roles and disambiguates with "of/like": "the soup smells of garlic" vs. "I smell the soup." Romanian does the same with a: supa miroase a usturoi vs. miros supa. The trap is that the linking a here is not the infinitive marker a (as in a mirosi) — it's a separate little preposition meaning "of/like," and it's obligatory in the intransitive sense. Forgetting it (miroase usturoi) is one of the most common learner errors.
Common Mistakes
❌ Florile mirosesc frumos.
Incorrect — a mirosi is a plain Class IV verb with no -esc- infix; the 3pl is miros.
✅ Florile miros frumos.
The flowers smell nice.
❌ Miroase usturoi în bucătărie.
Incorrect — the intransitive 'smell of' needs the preposition a.
✅ Miroase a usturoi în bucătărie.
It smells of garlic in the kitchen.
❌ Tu mirosi foarte bine azi.
Incorrect — s changes to ș before the 2sg -i: miroși.
✅ Tu miroși foarte bine azi.
You smell really good today.
❌ Vreau ca tot apartamentul să miroase a curat.
Incorrect — the 3sg subjunctive ends in -ă: miroasă, not miroase.
✅ Vreau ca tot apartamentul să miroasă a curat.
I want the whole flat to smell clean.
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