Ler (To Read) — Full Conjugation

Ler looks like it should be a tiny, harmless verb — two letters, one syllable. Don't be fooled. It is one of a small group of Portuguese -er verbs (alongside crer "to believe" and, in parallel, dar among the -ar verbs) that have an irregular stem expansion: in certain forms the stem le- grows an extra -i- to become lei-. You see this in leio (I read), leia (let him/her read), leiamos (let us read), and so on. The rest of the conjugation is mostly straightforward, but you cannot ignore that extra i.

The other reason to pay careful attention to ler is orthographic. Portuguese distinguishes lê (he/she reads) from le (which is not a word) by a circumflex, and — following the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, now fully in force — the 3rd-person plural is written leem, not lêem as it used to be. Learners who skip the diacritic or use the old spelling produce text that looks wrong to educated Portuguese readers.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Note the stem expansion in the 1st person singular (leio) and the 3rd person plural (leem). The 2nd and 3rd person singular (lês, lê) keep the bare stem le- but carry a circumflex to mark the closed, stressed vowel.

Before the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, the 3rd-person plural was written lêem (with circumflex). The agreement removed the circumflex from plural verb forms ending in -eem, so the current spelling is leem. You will still see the old form in older books; modern editions use the new spelling.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Regular -er pattern. Note the acute accent on líamos and líeis to mark the stressed -í-.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Regular in form — no stem expansion.

Note: the nós form lemos is identical in the present and preterite. Context tells you which is meant (compare abrir: same phenomenon).

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

A synthetic form used mainly in literary writing. Note the circumflex on the 1st/2nd person plural.

The 3rd-person plural leram is identical to the preterite.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Describes repeated or ongoing action up to now. Tenho lido muito ultimamente = I've been reading a lot lately.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Formed regularly from the infinitive + endings.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

This is where the stem expansion really bites. Every form has lei- instead of le-.

This pattern mirrors crer (creia, creias, creia, creiamos, creiam) and is one of the hallmarks of the handful of irregular -er verbs with monosyllabic infinitives.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Regular in formation. The 1st/2nd person plural carry a circumflex on the stem vowel (lêssemos, lêsseis) to mark the closed stressed ê. The 1990 Orthographic Agreement did not remove this circumflex — the rule that dropped circumflexes from -eem forms (e.g., leem) does not apply here, because the stress pattern is different.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Identical in form to the personal infinitive. Quando leres esta carta, já terei partido = When you read this letter, I will already have left.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Once again the stem expansion appears — everywhere that is built from the subjunctive.

Affirmative:

Negative:

Notice that lê (tu, affirmative) keeps the circumflex — this is not optional. Writing le is a spelling error.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Common uses and constructions

• ler um livro / jornal / email — to read a book / newspaper / email (direct object).
• ler algo a alguém — to read something to someone: Leio uma história aos meus filhos antes de dormir.
• ler em voz alta — to read aloud (a standard expression used in schools and by parents).
• ler por cima / ler na diagonal — to skim (a text).
• ler entre as linhas — to read between the lines (idiom).
• ler a sorte / a mão — to read fortunes / palms.
• saber ler — to be literate / to know how to read.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Ler is irregular by virtue of a stem expansion: where other -er verbs keep their stem intact, ler grows an extra -i- before certain endings, giving forms like leio, leia, leiamos, leiam.
• The expansion appears in the 1st person singular present (leio), the 3rd person plural present (leem), and throughout the present subjunctive and the subjunctive-derived imperative forms.
• The circumflex on lê (3rd sg present, 2nd sg affirmative imperative) is obligatory; omitting it is an orthographic error.
• The old spelling lêem has been replaced by leem since the 1990 Orthographic Agreement came into force.
• The past participle lido is regular and used for all compound tenses.
• Remember that lemos means both we read (present) and we read (preterite) — context disambiguates.