Aging with Grace

Não paras de rir quando envelheces. Envelheces quando paras de rir.

You don’t stop laughing when you grow old. You grow old when you stop laughing.

Today's vocabulary

🛑 Parar: To stop🤣 Rir: To laugh👵 Envelhecer: To age, to grow old📅 Quando: When

A mini lesson on ‘rir’

‘Rir’ means ‘to laugh’. You use it to talk about laughing out loud, whether from amusement, happiness, or irony. Portuguese also uses the reflexive form 'rir-se', which appears in several common expressions.

Talking about laughter

When you simply laugh out loud, you use 'rir'.

• 😂 Eu rio quando ouço uma boa piada. (I laugh when I hear a good joke.)
• 😄 Rir faz bem à saúde. (Laughing is good for your health.)

Bursting out or making others laugh

Portuguese has several common expressions with 'rir' to talk about sudden or shared laughter.

'Fazer alguém rir' means to cause someone to laugh. - 😄 Não me façam rir! (Don’t make me laugh!)

'Desatar a rir' means to burst out laughing. - 😂 Quando ouvi a notícia, desatei a rir. (When I heard the news, I burst out laughing.)

‘Não parar de rir’ means to not stop laughing

- 😂 Quando ele contou a história, não parámos de rir. (When he told the story, we couldn’t stop laughing.)

Using 'rir-se'

The reflexive form 'rir-se' is used when the laughter is directed at someone or something. The meaning depends on the preposition that follows.

'Rir-se para' is used when you smile at someone, usually in a friendly way.

• 😄 Ela riu-se para o bebé. (She smiled at the baby.)

'Rir-se de' means to laugh at someone or something, often in a mocking way.

• 😐 Não te rias de mim! (Don’t laugh at me!)

Rir-se à custa de alguém

This expression is used when someone laughs at another person’s expense, often in an unkind way.

• 🤭 Ela riu-se à custa do irmão, o que não foi nada simpático. (She laughed at her brother’s expense, which was not very nice.)

Rir-se na cara de alguém

This is used when someone laughs openly at another person, often showing disrespect or lack of shame.

• 😂 Ele não teve pudor; riu-se na cara do adversário. (He had no shame; he laughed in his opponent's face.)

Associated words and meanings

While 'rir' means to laugh, 'sorrir' means to smile. Smiling is quieter and more visual. The noun 'riso' refers to laughter itself.

• 😍 O riso dela é contagiante. (Her laughter is contagious.)
• 😃 Rir e sorrir são formas de mostrar alegria. (To laugh and to smile are ways to show joy.)

Common sayings

Portuguese also has several well-known sayings with 'rir'.

• 🏆 Quem ri por último ri melhor. (He who laughs last, laughs best.)

• 😄 Mais vale rir do que chorar. (It’s better to laugh than to cry.)
• 💊 Rir é o melhor remédio. (Laughter is the best medicine.)

Summary

• 😂 ‘Rir’: means ‘to laugh’, used for laughing out loud from amusement, happiness, or irony.
• 😄 ‘Rir’ for simple laughter: describes the act of laughing itself.
• 🤝 ‘Fazer alguém rir’: means to make someone laugh.
• 😂 ‘Desatar a rir’: means to burst out laughing suddenly.
• 🔁 ‘Não parar de rir’: means to keep laughing without stopping.
• 🎯 ‘Rir-se’: reflexive form used when laughter is directed at someone or something.
• 🙂 ‘Rir-se para’: means to smile at someone, usually in a friendly way.
• 😐 ‘Rir-se de’: means to laugh at someone or something, often mockingly.
• 🤭 ‘Rir-se à custa de alguém’: laughing at someone’s expense.
• 😅 ‘Rir-se na cara de alguém’: laughing openly at someone, often disrespectfully.
• 😊 Related words: ‘sorrir’ means to smile; ‘riso’ refers to laughter itself.
• 🏆 Common sayings with ‘rir’: used in well-known expressions about laughter and attitude toward life.