leer Preterite Conjugation
leer — to read
The preterite of leer features a spelling change where 'i' becomes 'y' in the third-person forms: leyó and leyeron.
leer Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about finishing a book, reading a specific article, or the moment you read a piece of news. It's for completed reading actions.
Notes on leer in the Preterite
Leer is a 'y-verb' in the preterite. Because 'i' falls between two vowels in the third person, it changes to 'y' (leyó, leyeron). Also, all forms except 'ellos' have a written accent on the 'i'.
Example Sentences
Ayer leí todo el periódico.
Yesterday I read the whole newspaper.
yo
¿Leíste el mensaje que te envié?
Did you read the message I sent you?
tú
Ella leyó su poema favorito en voz alta.
She read her favorite poem out loud.
él/ella/usted
Los estudiantes leyeron la novela en una semana.
The students read the novel in a week.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: leió
Correct: leyó
Why: In Spanish, an unstressed 'i' between two vowels changes to a 'y' to maintain the correct sound.
Mistake: leieron
Correct: leyeron
Why: Like the singular form, the third-person plural requires a 'y' instead of an 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: leo
Leer is regular in the present tense, following standard -er endings: leo, lees, lee, leemos, leéis, leen.
Imperfect
yo: leía
The imperfect of leer is regular for -er verbs: leía, leías, leía, leíamos, leíais, leían.
Future
yo: leeré
The future tense of leer is regular: simply add the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: leería
The conditional of leer is regular: add the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: lea
The present subjunctive of leer is regular: lea, leas, lea, leamos, leáis, lean.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: leyera
The imperfect subjunctive of leer uses the 'y' from the preterite: leyera, leyeras, leyera, leyéramos, leyerais, leyeran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: lee
Give commands with leer: lee (tú), lea (usted), leamos (nosotros), leed (vosotros), lean (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no leas
Negative commands for leer always use the present subjunctive forms: no leas, no lea, no leamos, no leáis, no lean.