Introduction

reírse means “to laugh”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to laugh” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows reírse in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo me río mucho por la mañana.” — “I laugh a lot.”

reírse in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how reírse is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.

In the present: everyday use

These sentences use {verb} in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.

  1. “Yo me río mucho cada día.” — “I laugh a lot.”
  2. “Tú te ríes mucho cada día.” — “you laugh a lot.”
  3. “Él se ríe mucho siempre.” — “He laughs a lot.”
  4. “Nosotros nos reímos mucho todos los días.” — “We laugh a lot.”

Talking about the past

The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show {verb} in the past, so you can talk about what already happened. 5. “Yo me reí mucho ayer.” — “I laughed a lot.” (preterite) 6. “Él se rió mucho ayer.” — “He laughed a lot.” (preterite) 7. “Yo me reía mucho cuando era joven.” — “I used to laugh a lot.” (imperfect)

Plans and things already done

These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of {verb} stays the same. 8. “Nosotros nos reiremos mucho mañana.” — “We will laugh a lot.” (future) 9. “Tú te has reído mucho hoy.” — “you have laughed a lot.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo me ría mucho.” — “I hope that I laugh a lot.” (present-subjunctive)

More everyday uses

Two more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action. 11. “Vosotros os reís mucho cada semana.” — “You laugh a lot.” 12. “Ellos se ríen mucho normalmente.” — “They laugh a lot.”

reírse in context

Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how reírse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue on the phone

Lucía: “¿Tú te ríes mucho?” — Do you laugh a lot?

Pedro: “Sí, yo me río mucho cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I laugh a lot every day. It is part of my routine.

Lucía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También te ríes mucho?” — And yesterday? Did you laugh a lot too?

Pedro: “Sí, ayer yo me reí mucho. Mañana nosotros reiremos mucho otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I laughed a lot. Tomorrow we will laugh a lot again.

A short paragraph

Él se ríe mucho cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how reírse works in real Spanish: who does it, when, and with what. Around it you can build a whole paragraph: what happened yesterday, what is happening now, and what will happen tomorrow, all with the same verb. When you write your own paragraph, start with the present — yo río mucho — then add one past sentence and one future sentence, and you have practised three tenses with one verb. That is the fastest way to make reírse yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Using the unchanged stem

Learners often write reo for the yo form, keeping the infinitive stem unchanged. The correct form is río. Because reírse changes its stem vowel, the change appears in the stressed syllables of the present: say the correct form out loud a few times — yo río mucho — until the changed stem feels natural.

Guessing the past participle

A common error is writing reírido as the past participle of reírse. The correct participle is reído. That matters in every perfect tense: it is he reído, había reído, habré reído. Memorise the participle on its own and the perfect tenses take care of themselves.

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is reí, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — rei — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of reírse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For reírse, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: reímos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because reírse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me río mucho, not yo río mucho. Without me, the sentence either means something else or means nothing at all. The pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — learn them with the verb, not as an afterthought.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the best answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of reírse in the present?

  • A. ríes
  • B. ríe
  • C. reímos
  • D. río

2. What is the tu form of reírse in the preterite?

  • A. reímos
  • B. reíste
  • C. reí
  • D. rió

3. What is the el form of reírse in the imperfect?

  • A. reías
  • B. reíamos
  • C. reíais
  • D. reía

4. What is the nosotros form of reírse in the future?

  • A. reirá
  • B. reiremos
  • C. reiré
  • D. reirás

5. What is the vosotros form of reírse in the present perfect?

  • A. he reído
  • B. has reído
  • C. ha reído
  • D. habéis reído

6. What is the ellos form of reírse in the present subjunctive?

  • A. ría
  • B. rían
  • C. ría
  • D. rías

7. What is the yo form of reírse in the preterite?

  • A. reíste
  • B. rió
  • C. reímos
  • D. reí

8. What is the tu form of reírse in the imperfect?

  • A. reíamos
  • B. reías
  • C. reía
  • D. reía

9. What is the el form of reírse in the future?

  • A. reiré
  • B. reirás
  • C. reiremos
  • D. reirá

10. What is the nosotros form of reírse in the conditional?

  • A. reiría
  • B. reiríamos
  • C. reiría
  • D. reirías

Answer key

  1. río — The present table gives yo = río.
  2. reíste — The preterite table gives tu = reíste.
  3. reía — The imperfect table gives el = reía.
  4. reiremos — The future table gives nosotros = reiremos.
  5. habéis reído — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis reído.
  6. rían — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = rían.
  7. reí — The preterite table gives yo = reí.
  8. reías — The imperfect table gives tu = reías.
  9. reirá — The future table gives el = reirá.
  10. reiríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = reiríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use reírse in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo me río mucho.” — “I laugh a lot.” Do not forget the reflexive pronoun: it goes before the verb. Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

What is the most useful form of reírse to learn first?

Learn the present yo form río first, then the preterite yo form reí and the participle reído. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund riendo next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is reírse reflexive?

Yes — reírse is reflexive, so it always takes me, te, se, nos, os or se. You say yo me río, never just yo río. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive and gerund.

Where can I see the full conjugation of reírse?

On the main conjugation page for reírse, which has every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, plus notes, examples and a quiz. The present-tense page covers one tense in depth if that is what you need right now.

Related links