Inklingo

How to Say "by reading" in Spanish

The Spanish word forby readingis leyendoA1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.

English → SpanishA1
verbA1
explaining how something is done
A simplified illustration showing a person sitting and focused on reading an open book held in their hands.

Examples

Mi hermano está leyendo un cómic en el sofá.

My brother is reading a comic book on the sofa.

Ella pasó toda la mañana leyendo los informes.

She spent the whole morning reading the reports.

Siempre aprendes más leyendo el texto original.

You always learn more by reading the original text.

The Continuous Action

Use 'leyendo' right after a form of 'estar' (like 'estoy' or 'estás') to show an action is happening in the moment, similar to the '-ing' form in English.

The 'Y' Rule (Irregular Spelling)

The base verb 'leer' (le-er) ends in a vowel, and the normal ending for -er verbs is -iendo. Spanish avoids having three vowels in a row (le-iendo), so the 'i' changes to a 'y' to make the pronunciation smoother: 'leyendo'.

Forgetting the 'y'

Mistake:Estoy leiendo.

Correction: Estoy leyendo. Remember that the 'i' becomes a 'y' when the verb root ends in a vowel (like 'leer', 'creer', or 'oír').

Related Translations

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