Does leer mean to read or read

Question

do you say me gusta leer libros or me gusta la leer libros

Answer 1

leer is the infinitive verb, to read, and as consequence you'll say me gusta leer libros Check one of the first spanish lessons on this site to know more!

Answer 2

In Spanish the verb infinitive is often used as a noun or gerund.

In English this sentence could be:

I like to read books.

In this sentence to read books is a prepositional phrase functioning as a noun, the direct object of the sentence.

In Spanish, however, leer libro is the subject of the sentence. Translated to English it would be similar to:

Reading books is pleasing to me. As in English placing "The" at the beginning of the sentence is awkward. We would have to alter the subject to "the reading of books"

El leer de libros (the masculine article is used with infinitives as nouns, no la) is similarly awkward, but possible, so your question seemed entirely logical to me.