leyó

Leyó is the third person singular in the preterite tense of the Spanish verb leer, meaning "he read" or "she read." It can also correspond to "usted leyó" in past tense. In context, leyó denotes a completed action of reading that occurred previously.

Leer is irregular in this tense, with a spelling change to preserve pronunciation. The forms are leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, y leyeron. In particular, the third-person singular uses leyó, and the third-person plural uses leyeron. The accent on í and ó helps indicate stress in these forms.

Usage notes include that leyó appears in narrative past tense and formal address. It is common in journalism, literature, and everyday speech when describing past reading activities. The form is always accompanied by a subject pronoun or implied subject, such as él, ella, or usted.

Etymology traces leyó to leer, which comes from the Latin legere. The development of this verb shows typical Spanish preterite irregularities involving orthographic changes and stem alterations for verbs ending in -er and -ir with vowel sequences.

Examples:

- Ayer, María leyó el informe completo.

- ¿Quién leyó esa carta?

- Usted leyó la novela que le prestamos.

In sum, leyó is a standard, widely used past-tense form of leer, embodying both a tense and a person marker within Spanish grammar.