Leer, creer and proveer are irregular in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish, but follow the same pattern: the ending of the third person singular and plural (ella/ él/ usted and ellas/ ellos/ ustedes) replaces the -i- with a -y. The other endings are the same as regular -er verbs: -i, -iste, -imos, -isteis, but these verbs take an accent on the -i.
Learn about -eer verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish
| yo | -í |
| tú | -íste |
| él / ella / Ud. | -yó |
| nosotros / nosotras | -ímos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -ísteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | -yeron |
As you can see, there is a -y in the endings for the 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural.
Conjugation of "leer" inEl Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish
| yo | leí |
| tú | leíste |
| él / ella / Ud. | leyó |
| nosotros / nosotras | leímos |
| vosotros / vosotras | leísteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | leyeron |
Look at and listen to these examples:
Verbs that follow this pattern are:
- leer (to read)
- creer (believe/think)
- proveer (provide)
Leer in El Pretérito Indefinido has the same type of irregularity as -uir verbs. See Conjugate -uir verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Indefinido) and List of Spanish irregular -uir verbs (i > y) in the present and past tenses.
For regular -er verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish see:
Conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Indefinido)
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