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leer

to read

verb leh-EHR Less Common
Arts & Culture Literature

Origin: From Latin legere (to read, to choose).

Usage Note

Leer has an irregular gerund leyendo and past participle leído, and in the preterite the third-person forms are leyó / leyeron (y inserted to avoid three vowels: leió → leyó). Leer entre líneas (to read between the lines) is a common idiom. The related noun lector means reader or (in Spain) a native-speaker language assistant at a university.

Examples

"Me gusta leer por las noches."

Natural Translation

I like to read at night.

Literal Translation

To-me pleases to-read at the nights.

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