lesa ("to read") is a strong Class-5 verb, the class whose stem vowel runs e → a → á → e. It is one of the most useful verbs a learner conjugates daily — you read books, signs, messages, the news — and it hides a small but important surprise: the past singular and past plural don't share a vowel length. "I read" is las with a short a, but "we read" is lásum with a long, accented á. Getting that split right is the one thing about lesa that separates a confident speaker from a guesser. Note also the natural pair with skrifa "write": lesa og skrifa is how you say "read and write."
Conjugation
Class: strong, class 5 (ablaut e–a–á–e). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef lesið "I have read." Governs: the accusative (lesa bók, lesa blaðið).
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að lesa |
| Preterite 1sg | las |
| Preterite 3pl | lásu |
| Supine | lesið |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | les | las |
| þú | lest | last |
| hann / hún / það | les | las |
| við | lesum | lásum |
| þið | lesið | lásuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | lesa | lásu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | lesi | læsi |
| þú | lesir | læsir |
| hann / hún / það | lesi | læsi |
| við | lesum | læsum |
| þið | lesið | læsuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | lesi | læsu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | lestu / les |
| Imperative (þið) | lesið! |
| Supine | lesið |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | lesinn / lesin / lesið |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | lesast — "be read / read (intransitively), e.g. 'það lest vel' (it reads well)" |
The e–a–á–e vowel pattern
Across the principal parts the vowel walks through four values: present e (les), past singular a (las), past plural á (lásu), supine e (lesið). The present and the supine land back on e, which is why the perfect ég hef lesið looks so close to the infinitive. Because the stem vowel here is e (and a / á in the past), there is no u-umlaut in this verb — lesum and lásum keep their vowels; nothing turns into ö.
Ég les eitthvað á hverju kvöldi áður en ég sofna.
I read something every evening before I fall asleep.
Hún las bókina á einni nóttu.
She read the book in one night.
Við lásum sömu greinina í skólanum.
We read the same article at school.
lesa + accusative, and lesa um
lesa takes a plain accusative object — the thing you read: lesa bók, lesa skilaboðin "read the messages." To say you read about a topic, use lesa um + accusative: lesa um eldgosið "read about the volcanic eruption." English splits "read it" from "read about it" the same way, so the structure transfers cleanly — just remember um governs the accusative.
Lestu þetta bréf fyrir mig?
Will you read this letter for me?
Ég las um þetta í blaðinu í morgun.
I read about this in the paper this morning.
The perfect and the imperative
The perfect is hafa + the supine lesið: ég hef lesið allar bækurnar hans. Here English actually helps you spot the trap rather than hide it: "I have read" uses the participle, and Icelandic likewise demands the supine lesið, not the finite past las. The familiar command fuses the pronoun on as lestu "read!" — you'll hear lestu þetta! "read this!" constantly. Note that English "read" is spelled the same in present and past (only the vowel sound changes), which is exactly why learners under-notice tense here; Icelandic spells the difference out loud (les vs. las), so you can never be ambiguous the way English is.
Hefur þú lesið þessa skáldsögu?
Have you read this novel? (perfect: hafa + supine lesið)
Lestu hægt og skýrt.
Read slowly and clearly.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég lesaði bókina í gær.
Incorrect — lesa is strong; the past is las, never a weak -aði form.
✅ Ég las bókina í gær.
I read the book yesterday.
❌ Við lasum greinina saman.
Incorrect — the past plural has the long, accented vowel: lásum, not lasum.
✅ Við lásum greinina saman.
We read the article together.
❌ Ég hef las þetta áður.
Incorrect — the perfect needs the supine lesið, not the past tense las.
✅ Ég hef lesið þetta áður.
I have read this before.
❌ Ég las um bókina í tvo tíma.
Misleading — 'lesa um' means 'read ABOUT'; to read the book itself, drop the um.
✅ Ég las bókina í tvo tíma.
I read the book for two hours.
Key Takeaways
- lesa – las – lásu – lesið — strong Class 5, the e–a–á–e pattern.
- The crucial split: past singular short (las, last, las) vs. past plural long/accented (lásum, lásuð, lásu).
- No u-umlaut anywhere — the vowels stay e / a / á.
- Perfect uses hafa + lesið: ég hef lesið.
- lesa takes the accusative; lesa um
- accusative = "read about."
- The command is lestu "read!"
Now practice Icelandic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- skrifa (to write)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class-1 verb skrifa (skrifa / skrifaði / skrifuðu / skrifað), an i-stem that does NOT take u-umlaut (skrifum, not skröfum), plus the supine-vs-participle contrast in the passive and the idiom skrifa undir 'sign'.