leer means: to read
Click to see all conjugation charts of leer in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will see how to inflect the verb leer in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the leer conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation check the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see the Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you may see additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of exceptions and special cases.

How to translate Presente to English

Note that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

The Spanish Presente de Indicativo tense translates to one of the following:

• The English Present tense, for instance:
  tú lees

  you read
• The English Present Progressive (a.k.a. Present Continuous) tense, for example:
  hoy ustedes leen

  (formal, plural) you are reading today
  
  Note that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (or Presente Continuo).

Note the timeline

The ability to properly locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for the right choice of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, reading or writing. After some practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Presente belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb leer has regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb follows the general rules for its group (-er) without spelling corrections or exceptions. The basis for this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we have to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s really easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of the verb leer it’s easy to see that:

• the stem is: le-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem le- in each person as the basis for the conjugation, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Analyze the image showing all six endings. Note the colors and shapes of the letters. They are arranged to help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -o for the first person singular to create leo:

• yo leo – I read

And add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create lees:

• tú lees – you read

Again add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create lee:

• él lee – he reads
• ella lee – she reads
• usted lee – (formal) you read

Like previously add the regular ending -emos for the first person plural to create leemos:

• nosotros leemos – we read
• nosotras leemos – (feminine) we read

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -éis for the second person plural to create leéis:

• vosotros leéis – (plural) you read
• vosotras leéis – (feminine, plural) you read

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create leen:

• ellos leen – they read
• ellas leen – (feminine) they read
• ustedes leen – (formal, plural) you read

This is it! The conjugation is now done. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	leo	I read
tú	lees	you read
él/ella/usted	lee	he/she/it reads
nosotros/nosotras	leemos	we read
vosotros/vosotras	leéis	you read
ellos/ellas/ustedes	leen	they read

Click to see all conjugation charts of leer in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for some links.

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test yourself try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PretéritoImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to leer visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for leer visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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