olemos

Olemos is the first-person plural present indicative form of the Spanish verb oler, meaning “we smell.” It is used to describe perceiving a smell in the present moment by the speaker and others.

Oler is an irregular, stem-changing verb. Its present tense forms are yo huelo, tú hueles, él huele, nosotros olemos, vosotros oléis, ellos huelen. In the nosotros form, the stem remains ol- rather than following the same stem as the singular forms. The verb is transitive and often used with direct objects (olimos la sopa) or with phrases such as huele a to describe what something smells like (la sopa huele a ajo).

In everyday Spanish, oler can describe both smelling something directly and detecting a smell in the air. Common constructions include olfato y olor, olfatear as a related verb meaning “to sniff.” The phrase huele a is widely used to indicate resemblance or scent, as in “La casa huele a pan recién horneado.”

Olemos also appears in the past tense form olimos, the preterite of oler, meaning “we smelled” (at a past time). For example: Ayer olimos pan recién horneado. This form is distinct from the present olemos and is not interchangeable.

Etymology traces oler to the Latin olēre, related to words for smell in several languages. The noun olor means “smell” or “odor,” and related adjectives include oloroso, fragrant or odorous.

Note: oleos is not related to the exclamation olé used in bullfighting, which is a different word with a distinct meaning and pronunciation.