Leí los estatutos.

Leí is the first-person singular preterite form of leer.

That means it expresses a completed action in the past:

• leer = to read
• leí = I read / I did read

In this sentence, the reading is presented as a finished event, not as something ongoing or habitual.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here, leí already means I read, so yo is not necessary.

You can add yo if you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• Yo leí los estatutos, pero él no.

Without emphasis, Leí los estatutos sounds completely natural.

The accent mark shows that the í is stressed and pronounced as a separate syllable.

So leí is pronounced:

• le-Í

not as a single-syllable sound.

This happens because leer is a vowel verb, and in some forms Spanish needs the written accent to show that the vowels do not merge into one syllable.

A simple guide is:

• leh-EE los es-tah-TOO-tos

More exactly, it breaks down like this:

• le-Í
• los
• es-ta-TU-tos

A few points:

• The stress is on -í in leí
• The stress is on -tu- in estatutos
• All the vowels are clear and pure: e, i, o, a, u, o

This sentence does not contain z or soft c, so there is no special th-like Spain pronunciation issue here.

Because estatutos is a masculine plural noun.

So the definite article must also be masculine plural:

• el estatuto = the statute / bylaw
• los estatutos = the statutes / bylaws

The article los also suggests that these are specific statutes already known from the context.

If you said unos estatutos, it would sound more like some statutes/bylaws, less specific.

Sometimes yes, but not always exactly.

Estatuto / estatutos can refer to:

• statutes
• bylaws
• articles of association
• formal governing rules of an institution, company, club, or organization

So depending on context, los estatutos may mean not just laws in a general sense, but the official rules of a specific body.

It is a close cognate, but the exact English choice often depends on context.

Yes. Both are possible, but the nuance is different.

• Leí los estatutos = a completed past action
• He leído los estatutos = I have read the statutes

In Spain, the present perfect is often used for actions connected to the present, especially with unfinished time expressions such as:

• hoy
• esta semana
• este mes

So:

• Hoy he leído los estatutos.

But if you are simply telling someone about a completed past event, Leí los estatutos is perfectly natural.

Because leer has an irregular pattern in the preterite.

Its preterite forms are:

• leí
• leíste
• leyó
• leímos
• leísteis
• leyeron

The y appears in some forms to avoid awkward vowel combinations.

So Spanish does not keep the same spelling in every preterite form of leer. This is normal and something you just have to learn as part of the verb pattern.

This is the difference between preterite and imperfect.

• Leí los estatutos = I read the statutes / I finished reading them
• Leía los estatutos = I was reading the statutes / I used to read the statutes

So:

• leí focuses on the action as completed
• leía focuses on the action as ongoing, habitual, or background

Examples:

• Leí los estatutos antes de la reunión.
  Finished action.

• Leía los estatutos cuando me llamaste.
  Ongoing action in the past.

Yes, absolutely.

Adding yo is grammatically correct, but it usually adds emphasis:

• Yo leí los estatutos.
• Yo leí los estatutos, pero ellos no.

If there is no special emphasis, Spanish normally prefers:

• Leí los estatutos.

So both are correct, but the version without yo is more neutral.

It is neutral.

Nothing in Leí los estatutos is especially formal or informal. The sentence itself is simple and standard.

What may sound formal is the noun estatutos, because the topic is legal or institutional. But grammatically, the sentence is just normal everyday Spanish.