reír
reír = to laugh (verb)
Say it out loud!
Syllabic breakdown: re-ír
Sounds like: rray-IR
Use in a sentence!
Me gustan las películas que me hacen reír.
I like movies that make me laugh.
Ella siempre se está riendo.
She is always laughing.
Pronunciation tip:
When a word begins with the letter “r” in Spanish, you must roll your tongue to pronounce it correctly.
Tongue rolling can be tricky for some native English speakers. If you have trouble rolling your Rs, try taking a breath and allow some slight airflow just at the start of the word. The very tip of your tongue should touch the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth, almost as if you were going to say a word that started with the letter “d”. The resulting effect is almost like the purring of a cat.
Grammar tips:
Reír or Reírse? Very often, the verb reír is used with a reflexive pronoun. It’s common to hear “Se estaban riendo de mí” (They were laughing at me), or “No te rías” (Don’t laugh).
Why the Accent? The accent is on the letter “i” because without it, when reading the word, it would be pronounced as one syllable, rather than two. There’s a rule in Spanish phonetics that says that when open vowels (a, e, o) are paired with closed vowels (i, u) the resulting effect is not a syllable for each vowel, but rather one single syllable (this is called a diphthong, or diptongo in Spanish). Remember that spoken language always precedes written language. Since it´s pronounced as two syllables, rather than one, the makers of the written language had to ensure that the its readers would know how to properly pronounce it the word. Thus, the accent (to represent the vocal stress) on the letter “i”. See more here.
Cultural tip:
When taking photos, Spanish speakers will sometimes use the verb reír (or its reflexive, reírse) to tell the people in the photo to smile, rather than the actual word for smile, sonreír.
Uno…dos…tres…Ríete!
Remember it:
Ray got hit in the ear with a ball. All the kids laughed.
