reír
/reˈiɾ/
The Spanish phrase reír means to laugh.
reír is the base verb for the act of laughing. However, you will often encounter related expressions such as Morirse de risa, which literally translates to 'to die of laughter' and emphasizes that something is incredibly funny. For a colloquial way to say 'to have a laugh' or 'to burst out laughing', you can use Echarse una risa/carcajada. The noun form derived from this verb is risa, meaning 'laughter'.
Which one should you use?
While reír is the base verb for the act of laughing, reírse is much more common in idiomatic, everyday speech to describe the reaction of laughing.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb is often used reflexively as reírse to mean 'to laugh' or 'to burst out laughing'. When expressing that someone is laughing at something or someone, the reflexive form reírse is used with the preposition de. An example of a reflexive conjugation is se ríe, meaning 'he/she laughs'.
How do you pronounce it?
/reˈiɾ/
Did you know?
- If someone is laughing uncontrollably, a common colloquialism is to say they are partirse de risa, which means 'to split oneself with laughter'.
- The Spanish phrase reír por no llorar describes the specific feeling of laughing just to keep from crying during a tragedy.
- The conjugation of reír is highly irregular because the expected past participle, such as *reso, never actually formed in the transition from Latin.
Examples in context
- La niña tenía un carácter risueño que contagiaba a todos.The girl had a jovial character that infected everyone around her.
- ¡Me hiciste reír mucho con esa broma!You made me laugh a lot with that joke!
- La película fue tan graciosa que nos echamos una risa durante toda la noche.The movie was so funny that we had a laugh all night long.
- Las ocurrencias de mi hermano me hacen morir de risa.My brother's antics make me die of laughter.
- Mi amiga y yo nos reímos todo el tiempo.My friend and I laugh all the time.
- Mis hermanos ríen cada vez que ven esta escena cómica.My siblings laugh every time they see this funny scene.
- El comediante hizo un chiste tan bueno que todo el teatro rompió en carcajadas.The comedian made such a good joke that the entire theater burst out in laughter.
- La película de comedia me hace soltar carcajadas sin parar.The comedy movie makes me laugh nonstop.
- Es bueno reír con los amigos.It is good to laugh with friends.
- No puedes reír en un funeral.You cannot laugh at a funeral.
- Me gusta reír con mis hijos.I like to laugh with my children.
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are watching a comedy movie.
- DanielEsta película es muy divertida.This movie is very funny.
- LucíaSí, me hace reír mucho.Yes, it makes me laugh a lot.
- DanielMira la cara de ese actor.Look at that actor's face.
- Lucía¡Es imposible no reír!It's impossible not to laugh!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry reír, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries reír, CC BY-SA 4.0.
