liest

Liest is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb lesen, which means "to read." It is used with singular subjects such as er, sie, or es. For example: Er liest ein Buch. In question form, you can say: Liest du die Zeitung? The form also appears in plural contexts when combined with the appropriate subject, as in Lest ihr die Nachrichten?

Pronunciation and orthography: liest is pronounced with a long "i" sound, roughly [liːst]. The spelling uses the digraph "ie" to indicate this long vowel. The word adheres to standard German word order rules, with the conjugated verb appearing in second position in main clauses and at the end in subordinate clauses.

Conjugation and related forms: lesen is a strong, irregular verb in its present tense paradigm. Key forms include ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, Sie lesen. The past tense (preterite) is las (er las), and the past participle is gelesen, used with haben in perfect constructions (Er hat gelesen).

Usage notes: liest is a common everyday form in German and can appear in a wide range of registers, from conversation to literature. It should not be confused with English spellings or forms; in Dutch, the cognate form for the third-person singular present is leest, which helps illustrate cross-language relationships within the West Germanic family.

In summary, liest is a standard German conjugation of lesen, signaling a third-person singular present action of reading and serving as a frequent component of German sentence construction.