lukta (to smell) | Swedish Grammar

lukta means "to smell" — but in the sense of giving off a smell, not perceiving one. The bread smells good; that is lukta. It is a regular Group 1 verb (lukta – luktar – luktade – luktat), and it patterns exactly like its taste-sense cousin smaka: a thing smells gott or illa, not bra or dåligt. English uses one verb "smell" for both giving off and perceiving a smell; Swedish keeps the two ideas in separate constructions, and this is the point to master.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
lukta	luktar	luktade	luktat	lukta	Group 1

All regular. Present is the infinitive plus -r (luktar). Past adds -de (luktade). The supine after har ends in -at (luktat). The imperative is the bare stem: Lukta! ("Smell this!").

Use 1: Det luktar gott — giving off a smell

The everyday use is impersonal: something luktar a certain way. As with taste, the quality word is gott (good) or illa (bad) — not bra/dåligt.

Det luktar gott i köket — vad lagar du?

It smells good in the kitchen — what are you cooking? luktar gott, like smaka gott.

Soporna luktar illa, kan du ta ut dem?

The rubbish smells bad, can you take it out? lukta illa = smell bad.

Det luktade rök hela natten.

It smelled of smoke all night. luktade — the regular Group 1 past, here lukta + the substance.

Har det alltid luktat så här konstigt här?

Has it always smelled this strange here? har luktat — the perfect, supine luktat after har.

You can also name what something smells of directly (lukta rök, lukta vitlök) or compare with som.

Hennes parfym luktar som rosor.

Her perfume smells like roses. lukta som + a comparison.

Use 2: lukta på — sniff at

To deliberately put your nose to something and sniff, Swedish uses lukta på ("smell on") — the same particle pattern as smaka på.

Lukta på blomman, den doftar underbart.

Smell the flower, it smells wonderful. lukta på = sniff at something.

Hunden luktade på allt på promenaden.

The dog sniffed at everything on the walk. luktade på — past of the 'sniff at' construction.

lukta vs känna lukten

If you want to say a person perceives a smell — "I can smell something" — you don't use lukta. You use känna lukten ("feel/sense the smell"). lukta is for the source giving off the smell; känna lukten is for the nose receiving it.

Jag känner lukten av nybakat bröd.

I can smell freshly baked bread. The perceiver uses känna lukten, not lukta.

Känner du lukten? Det luktar bränt.

Can you smell that? Something smells burnt. känna lukten = perceive; lukta = give off.

A related noun is en lukt ("a smell"), and the more positive en doft ("a scent, fragrance").

Common Mistakes

❌ Det luktar bra här.

Wrong word — for the quality of a smell use gott, not bra: Det luktar gott.

✅ Det luktar gott här.

It smells good here.

❌ Det luktade dåligt.

Unidiomatic — for a bad smell Swedish says lukta illa, not lukta dåligt.

✅ Det luktade illa.

It smelled bad.

❌ Jag luktar kaffe. (meaning 'I can smell coffee')

Off — this says you give off a coffee smell. To perceive it: Jag känner lukten av kaffe.

✅ Jag känner lukten av kaffe.

I can smell coffee.

❌ Lukta blomman.

Incomplete — to sniff at something, use lukta på: Lukta på blomman.

✅ Lukta på blomman.

Smell the flower.

💡

lukta is a regular Group 1 verb: lukta – luktar – luktade – luktat. It means a thing gives off a smell — and it takes gott/illa, exactly like smaka (Det luktar gott, never bra). To perceive a smell, switch to känna lukten; to sniff at something, use lukta på. The noun is en lukt.

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