El autor está leyendo en la librería.

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?
We use está (a form of estar) because this sentence uses the present continuous tense to describe an action happening right now. You always use estar with a gerund (like leyendo) to show an ongoing action, never ser.
If the author were female, how would the beginning of the sentence change?
You would change the masculine El autor to the feminine La autora. The rest of the sentence (está leyendo en la librería) remains exactly the same because verbs do not change based on gender.

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