Ler

Ler is the infinitive form of the verb meaning "to read" in Portuguese and Galician. It is a transitive verb used to describe the act of reading something, and it appears in a wide range of everyday expressions. Its meaning is universal across contexts, from reading books to reading signs or letters. The word derives from the Latin legere, the same root that yields related Romance-language verbs for reading.

In Portuguese, ler is conjugated as a regular -er verb, with notable accent marks in several forms. Present indicative: eu leio, tu lês, ele lê, nós lemos, eles leem. Pretérito perfeito (simple past): eu li, tu leste, ele leu, nós lemos, eles leram. Pretérito imperfeito (imperfect): eu lia, tu lias, ele lia, nós liamos, eles liam. Futuro do presente: eu lerei, tu lerás, ele lerá, nós leremos, eles lerão. The gerund is lendo and the past participle is lido. Galician uses a closely related conjugation and spelling, with forms that are frequently identical to Portuguese in many tenses.

Beyond its role as a verb, the term ler can appear in various contexts when capitalized as LER, where it functions as an acronym. In such cases, its meaning depends on the specific domain or organization, and there is no single universal interpretation. In linguistic history, ler shares cognates with similar verbs in other Romance languages, such as lire in French or leggere in Italian, all tracing back to Latin legere.