Breakdown of El autor está leyendo en la librería.
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
leer
to read
estar
to be (location/state)
el autor
the author
la librería
the bookshop
Questions & Answers about El autor está leyendo en la librería.
Why is it leyendo and not leiendo?
To form the gerund (the English -ing form) of leer, you normally drop the -er and add -iendo. However, Spanish spelling rules do not allow an unaccented i between two vowels. Because of this, leiendo changes to leyendo. You will see this same spelling change in other verbs from this lesson, like creer becoming creyendo.
Doesn't librería mean library?
It looks like it, but librería is a false friend! It actually means bookshop or bookstore, where you buy books. If you want to talk about a library where you borrow books, you need to use the Spanish word biblioteca.
Why do we use está instead of es in this sentence?
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