A veces leo el periódico en la tableta porque pesa menos que el portátil.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear. Leo means I read, so yo is unnecessary unless you want extra emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• A veces leo el periódico... = neutral
• Yo leo el periódico, pero ella no. = emphasis/contrast

A veces means sometimes. In Spanish, time expressions like this often go at the beginning of the sentence, just like in English.

So A veces leo... is very natural.

You could also say:

• Leo el periódico a veces...

But starting with A veces sounds slightly more natural here because it sets the scene first.

Spanish uses the definite article much more often than English. With things like newspapers, body parts, school subjects, and general nouns, Spanish often says the where English might leave it out.

So leo el periódico is the normal way to say I read the newspaper.

Without the article, leo periódico, it would sound wrong in standard Spanish.

Here en means on/in, and it is the normal preposition for using or reading something on a device.

So:

• leer en la tableta
• leer en el móvil
• ver algo en la televisión

English says on the tablet, and Spanish uses en la tableta.

In Spain, tableta is a good Spanish word for tablet, although many people also say tablet in everyday speech.

So these are both possible in modern usage:

• la tableta
• la tablet

If you are learning Spanish from Spain and want a more fully Spanish form, tableta is a good choice.

In Spain, portátil is the usual word for laptop. It is short for ordenador portátil.

So:

• el portátil = the laptop
• el ordenador portátil = the portable computer / laptop

In Latin America, learners often hear la laptop or la computadora portátil, but el portátil is especially common in Spain.

Because Spanish nouns have grammatical gender.

• la tableta is feminine
• el portátil is masculine

You generally have to learn the gender with each noun. Sometimes there is a pattern, but often it is just part of the word.

A helpful habit is to memorize nouns with their article:

• la tableta
• el portátil
• el periódico

Porque means because.

This is different from:

• por qué = why
• porque = because
• el porqué = the reason
• por que = a less common combination in other structures

In your sentence, the speaker is giving a reason, so porque is correct.

Both are possible, but pesa menos is very natural because the sentence is specifically talking about weight.

• pesa menos que el portátil = it weighs less than the laptop
• es más ligera que el portátil = it is lighter than the laptop

A small detail: if you used ligera, it would agree with la tableta, which is feminine.

So both work:

• ...porque pesa menos que el portátil.
• ...porque es más ligera que el portátil.

The version with pesa menos sounds direct and idiomatic.

In comparisons, Spanish uses que after más and menos.

So:

• más que = more than
• menos que = less than

Examples:

• La tableta pesa menos que el portátil.
• Este libro cuesta más que ese.

De is used in other structures, such as numbers or quantities:

• más de dos kilos
• menos de diez euros

So here, because you are comparing one thing with another, que is correct.

Yes. The subject of pesa is understood to be la tableta.

Spanish often leaves out repeated nouns when the meaning is obvious. The full version would be:

• A veces leo el periódico en la tableta porque la tableta pesa menos que el portátil.

But repeating la tableta sounds unnecessary, so Spanish omits it.

More or less, yes.

Leo is pronounced as two clear syllables: le-o.

A rough English approximation is LAY-oh, but with a shorter, cleaner Spanish sound:

• le like leh
• o like oh

Also, in this sentence leo is the verb I read, not the name Leo.

Sometimes, yes, but el periódico is the safest and most standard word for newspaper.

In Spain:

• el periódico = newspaper
• el diario can also mean newspaper, especially in some contexts, but it can sound a bit more specific or stylistic

For a learner, el periódico is the most straightforward choice.