El judío lee el libro.

the book

Breakdown of El judío lee el libro.

• leer: to read
• el judío: the Jewish man

Questions & Answers about El judío lee el libro.

Why is el used twice in El judío lee el libro?

Because the two el words belong to two different nouns:

• el judío = the subject noun phrase
• el libro = the direct object noun phrase

In Spanish, the definite article is used much like the in English, but each noun normally needs its own article if it is definite.

So:

• El judío = the Jewish man / the Jew
• el libro = the book

You cannot use one el for both nouns.

What is lee exactly?

Lee is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb leer (to read).

So it can mean:

• he reads
• she reads
• it reads (rare in real life)
• you read in the formal usted form

In this sentence, because the subject is El judío, lee means he reads.

Conjugation of leer in the present:

• yo leo
• tú lees
• él/ella/usted lee
• nosotros leemos
• vosotros leéis
• ellos/ellas/ustedes leen

Why is lee spelled with two es?