Leer Conjugation: Preterite, Imperfect & Past Participle
Do you like to read? Then you need to know the verb leer. In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate leer in the preterite and imperfect tenses. You will also learn the past participle for leer, and see how to use this verb in example sentences.
What Did You Read?
The verb leer is Spanish for ‘to read.’ In this lesson we’ll learn how to conjugate the verb leer in the preterite and imperfect tenses. You will also learn the past participle for leer.
Let’s look at how to conjugate the verb leer before looking at some examples. Remember that in Spanish, pronouns are only used when we need to identify the speaker. For example, you would need to use the pronoun for the third person singular (él, ella, usted), but not for the second person (tú). All verbs are conjugated in the indicative, which is used to talk about what happens in a general time frame in the preterite or imperfect.
Leer in the Preterite Tense
The preterite tense is used to talk about actions that began and ended in the past. The verb leer is regular in the preterite except for in the third person singular (él, ella, usted) and plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) where there is an -i to -y shift.
VERB: leer (lay-ER) to read
Subject Pronoun Preterite Tense Pronunciation Translation
yo leí lay-EE I read
tú leíste lay-EE-stay You (informal) read
él, ella, usted leyó lay-YO He, she, you (formal) read
nosotros/nosotras leímos lay-EE-mose We read
vosotros/vosotras leísteis lay-EE-stay-ees You (plural, informal) read
ellos, ellas, ustedes leyeron lay-YEH-rone They (male, female), you (plural, formal/informal) read
Examples in the Preterite
Here are a few examples of leer in the preterite tense:
Leí el manuscrito ayer. (I read the manuscript yesterday.)
Vanesa y Carlo leyeron dos artículos para su clase. (Vanesa and Carlo read two articles for their class.)
¿Alguien leyó un libro de fantasía? (Did anyone read a fantasy book?)
Summer Reading
School is back in session, and Mrs. Rodriguez is checking in with her students to see what they read over the summer. Let’s listen in.
Mrs. Rodriguez: Hola niños, vamos a hablar de los libros que ustedes leyeron durante las vacaciones. (Hello children, we are going to talk about the books you all read during vacation.)
Student 1: Leí un libro muy interesante sobre dos hermanos que mudaron a la selva con sus padres. (I read an interesting book about two brothers that moved to the jungle with their parents.)
Student 2: Mi hermana y yo leímos un libro sobre la vida de Albert Einstein. (My sister and I read a book about the life of Albert Einstein.)
Mrs. Rodgriguez:¿Alguien leyó un libro de fantasía? (Did anyone read a fantasy book?)
Student 3: ¡Yo sí! Leí ‘El Hobbit.’ (I did! I read ‘The Hobbit.’)
I read The Hobbit.
leer yo lei
Mrs. Rodriguez: ¡Muy bien, niños! Ustedes leyeron unos libros muy interesantes. (Very good, children! You all read some very interesting books.)
Leer in the Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is used to talk about things that happened over time in the past. It is also used to talk about things that used to happen. The verb leer is regular in the imperfect tense.
VERB: leer (lay-ER) to read
Subject Pronoun Imperfect Tense Pronunciation Translation
yo leía lay-EE-ah I used to read
tú leías lay-EE-ahs You (informal) used to read
él, ella, usted leía lay-EE-ah He, she, you (formal) used to read
nosotros/nosotras leíamos lay-EE-ah-mose We used to read
vosotros/vosotras leíais lay-EE-ah-ees You (plural, informal) used to read
ellos, ellas, ustedes leían lay-EE-ahn They (male, female), you (plural, formal/informal) used to read
Examples in the Imperfect
Here are some examples of leer in imperfect tense:
¿De niño, qué tipo de libros leías? (As a child, what kind of books did you used to read?)
Mi mamá me leía un cuento cada noche. (My mom used to read me a story every night.)
My mom used to read me a story every night.
leer mama leia
Leíamos mucho durante las vacaciones. (We used to read a lot during vacation.)
Now let’s check back with Mrs. Rodriguez and her students. They are talking about what the students used to read when they were younger:
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