Conjugating the Spanish Verb Leer (to Read)

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like leer (to read), you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to:

• Regular: Follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs
• Stem-changing: Morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence
• Spelling-changing: Has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules
• Reflexive: Reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence

Leer (leh-ehr) is a regular -er verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Other popular irregular Spanish verbs include ser, estar, hacer, tener.

Present tense conjugation

The following examples show you leer in action:

• Nosotros leemos muchas novelas en el verano. (We read many novels in the summer.)

• Ellas leen el periódico. (They read the newspaper.)

Need to know how to conjugate leer in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms.

Preterit tense conjugation

You use the preterit tense like this:

• Yo leí una bonita poesía ayer. (I read a nice poem yesterday.)

• Ellos leyeron un libro de historia. (They read a history book.)

Imperfect tense conjugation

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

• Los estudiantes leían el periódico en clase todos los días. (The students used to read the newspaper in class every day.)

• Juana leía novelas en el verano. (Juana used to read novels in the summer.)

Future tense conjugation

The following samples put the future tense to work:

• ¿Leerán los niños sus libros en clase? (Will the children read their books in class?)

• Sí. Los niños leerán sus libros, y yo leeré el periódico. (Yes. The children will read their books, and I will read the newspaper.)