The Imperfect Tense of reír is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo me reía mucho con las bromas de mi amigo. (I used to laugh a lot at my friend’s jokes.)

This verb follows the accented -ía conjugation pattern in the Imperfect Tense, with accent marks on the í in all forms except nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Reír (to laugh) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The imperfect tense of reír is used to describe ongoing, repeated or habitual actions in the past.

Expressing an ongoing action in the past: For example, Cuando era niño, me reía mucho con mis amigos. (When I was a child, I used to laugh a lot with my friends.)

Describing repeated or habitual actions in the past: For example, Mis abuelos se reían cada vez que contaba un chiste. (My grandparents would laugh every time I told a joke.)

Expressing an action in progress at a specific time in the past: For example, Anoche me reía mientras veía la película cómica. (Last night I was laughing while watching the comedy movie.)

Describing physical or emotional states in the past: For example, Estaba tan feliz que no paraba de reír. (I was so happy that I couldn’t stop laughing.)

Expressing age: For example, Cuando reía a los 10 años, tenía una risa muy contagiosa. (When I was 10 years old, I had a very contagious laugh.)

Slang/Idiomatic usage: Me reía de la situación can mean “I was making fun of the situation” or “I was laughing at the situation” depending on context. No te rías is a common phrase meaning “Don’t laugh” or “Don’t make fun of me”.

Examples

Examples of Reír in the Imperfect Tense

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Cuando era niño, reía mucho con las payasadas de mi hermano. (When I was a child, I laughed a lot at my brother’s antics.)

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Ella reía a carcajadas durante la película de comedia. (She was laughing out loud during the comedy movie.)

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Nosotros reíamos sin parar en la fiesta de cumpleaños. (We were laughing non-stop at the birthday party.)

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Tú reías tanto que se te salían las lágrimas. (You were laughing so much that tears were coming out of your eyes.)

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Ellos reían a cada rato con los chistes del comediante. (They were laughing all the time at the comedian’s jokes.)

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Yo reía por dentro al ver sus caras de confusión. (I was laughing inside when I saw their confused faces.)

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Aunque la situación era incómoda, ella reía para aliviar la tensión. (Even though the situation was awkward, she was laughing to ease the tension.)

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Los niños reían a carcajadas con las bromas de su tío. (The kids were laughing out loud at their uncle’s jokes.)

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Él reía como un loco cada vez que contaba ese chiste. (He was laughing like crazy every time he told that joke.)

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Ustedes reían tanto que casi se ahogaban. (You all were laughing so much that you almost choked.)

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Aunque la película no era graciosa, ellas reían por cualquier cosa. (Even though the movie wasn’t funny, they were laughing at anything.)

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Yo reía a escondidas para no ofender a nadie. (I was laughing secretly so as not to offend anyone.)

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Tú reías tanto que te dolía el estómago. (You were laughing so much that your stomach hurt.)

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Ellos reían a carcajadas con las ocurrencias de su amigo. (They were laughing out loud at their friend’s antics.)

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Nosotros reíamos sin parar durante todo el viaje. (We were laughing non-stop throughout the whole trip.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Reír (to laugh) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.