Verb · regular -er, one spelling change
leer
to read
The thing that catches people out
Regular in the present. In the past and the -ndo form, an unstressed i between two vowels becomes y: leyó, leyeron, leyendo.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | leo | |
| tú | lees | |
| él, ella, usted | lee | |
| nosotros | leemos | |
| ellos, ustedes | leen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | leéis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | leí | |
| tú | leíste | |
| él, ella, usted | leyó | |
| nosotros | leímos | |
| ellos, ustedes | leyeron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | leísteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | leía | |
| tú | leías | |
| él, ella, usted | leía | |
| nosotros | leíamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | leían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | leíais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | leeré | |
| tú | leerás | |
| él, ella, usted | leerá | |
| nosotros | leeremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | leerán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | leeréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he leído | |
| tú | has leído | |
| él, ella, usted | ha leído | |
| nosotros | hemos leído | |
| ellos, ustedes | han leído | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis leído |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | leyendo | |
| participle | leído | |
| command, to tú | lee | |
| command, to usted | lea |
In a sentence
leo el periódico
I read the newspaper
¿leíste el mensaje?
did you read the message?