Leí el programa electoral.

I read the election manifesto.

Breakdown of Leí el programa electoral.

• leer: to read
• el programa electoral: the election manifesto

Questions & Answers about Leí el programa electoral.

What tense is leí, and why is it used here?

Leí is the pretérito indefinido in Spain, often called the preterite in English-language textbooks.

It expresses a completed action in the past: the reading happened and is viewed as finished.

So Leí el programa electoral presents the action as a single completed event, like:

• I read the election manifesto / I read the party platform

It is different from:

• leía = I was reading / I used to read
• he leído = I have read

In Spain, leí is very natural for a finished past action.

Why does leí have an accent mark?

The accent mark shows the stress and also helps signal the correct pronunciation.

With leer, the preterite forms are:

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

In leí, the e and í are pronounced in separate syllables: le-Í.

So it is not like one smooth diphthong. The accent on í helps show that break.

Who is the subject here? Why isn’t included?