Conjugation of riure | Catalan Grammar

Riure means “to laugh.” Its principal parts are ric – riem – reia – riguí – riuré – rigui – rigut: the short present forms use ri-, the velar family uses rig-, the imperfect unexpectedly uses re-, and the future returns to riur-. That alternation is real: riuria wrongly regularizes the future, while reim is a standard Balearic present variant rather than the Central form used in the table.

The verb may be plain (tothom reia) or pronominal (es reien de l'acudit). With a person or thing as the target of mockery or dismissal, the standard reference construction is riure's de, and its de-complement is often replaced by en: se'n riu. Plain riure de remains possible in other senses and expressions, such as riure de gust or riure de la por d'algú “not take someone's fear seriously.” English has no equivalent clitic chain, so morphology and syntax must be learned together.

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The small family ric – riem – reia – riguí – riuré – rigui – rigut predicts the whole paradigm. In particular, use rient, never riguent, even though rigui and rigut contain g.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	riure	to laugh
Perfect infinitive	haver rigut	to have laughed
Gerund	rient	laughing
Perfect gerund	havent rigut	having laughed
Participle	rigut; riguda, riguts, rigudes	laughed

Compound tenses use invariable rigut after haver. Agreement belongs to genuinely adjectival use, which is uncommon. The gerund rient belongs with present plural riem/rieu, not with the velar stem.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	ric	rius	riu	riem	rieu	riuen
Imperfect	reia	reies	reia	rèiem	rèieu	reien
Periphrastic past	vaig riure	vas riure	va riure	vam riure	vau riure	van riure
Simple past	riguí	rigueres	rigué	riguérem	riguéreu	rigueren
Future	riuré	riuràs	riurà	riurem	riureu	riuran
Conditional	riuria	riuries	riuria	riuríem	riuríeu	riurien

Present riu is also the noun “river” and the familiar affirmative command “laugh”; only context identifies its function. Do not carry the present vowel into the imperfect: the IEC forms are reia, reies, reia, rèiem, rèieu, reien. Conversely, future and conditional are built on riur-.

Sempre ric quan l'avi imita la veu del navegador.

I always laugh when Grandpa imitates the satnav voice.

A l'institut rèiem per qualsevol bestiesa durant el pati.

At secondary school we used to laugh at any silly thing during break.

Ahir vam riure tant que em feien mal les galtes.

Yesterday we laughed so much that my cheeks hurt.

The periphrastic past is the unmarked conversational past. The simple past is standard, but in much Central Catalan it is primarily (formal/literary); regional speech differs in how productively it is used.

Compound tenses and subjunctive

Indicative tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present perfect	he rigut	has rigut	ha rigut	hem rigut	heu rigut	han rigut
Pluperfect	havia rigut	havies rigut	havia rigut	havíem rigut	havíeu rigut	havien rigut
Past anterior	haguí rigut	hagueres rigut	hagué rigut	haguérem rigut	haguéreu rigut	hagueren rigut
Future perfect	hauré rigut	hauràs rigut	haurà rigut	haurem rigut	haureu rigut	hauran rigut
Conditional perfect	hauria rigut	hauries rigut	hauria rigut	hauríem rigut	hauríeu rigut	haurien rigut

Subjunctive tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	rigui	riguis	rigui	riguem	rigueu	riguin
Imperfect	rigués	riguessis	rigués	riguéssim	riguéssiu	riguessin
Present perfect	hagi rigut	hagis rigut	hagi rigut	hàgim rigut	hàgiu rigut	hagin rigut
Pluperfect	hagués rigut	haguessis rigut	hagués rigut	haguéssim rigut	haguéssiu rigut	haguessin rigut

The present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive and simple past share the velar rig-. (Regional: Valencian) has standard riga, rigues, riga, riguem, rigueu, riguen, and the imperfect in -ra (riguera, rigueres...) is standard and current; Valencian also admits the participle rist. (Regional: Balearic) reim/reis are standard present-tense alternatives to riem/rieu. Central, Northwestern and Northern standards retain the displayed core alternation, with their usual subjunctive variants.

M'agrada que riguis així, sense mirar el rellotge ni el telèfon.

I like it when you laugh like that, without looking at the clock or your phone.

No havia rigut d'aquella manera des de feia mesos.

I hadn't laughed like that for months.

Si no se n'haguessin rigut, potser ell hauria continuat explicant-ho.

If they hadn't laughed at it, perhaps he would have kept explaining it.

These periphrastic rows complete the reference. The subjunctive periphrases are (regional/formal) and need recognition more than active use for most learners.

Periphrastic tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Indicative past anterior	vaig haver rigut	vas haver rigut	va haver rigut	vam haver rigut	vau haver rigut	van haver rigut
Subjunctive past	vagi riure	vagis riure	vagi riure	vàgim riure	vàgiu riure	vagin riure
Subjunctive past anterior	vagi haver rigut	vagis haver rigut	vagi haver rigut	vàgim haver rigut	vàgiu haver rigut	vagin haver rigut

Imperative and pronominal chains

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	riu	no riguis
vostè	rigui	no rigui
nosaltres	riguem	no riguem
vosaltres	rieu	no rigueu
vostès	riguin	no riguin

Affirmative clitics follow the command (riu-te'n; rieu-vos-en); negative clitics precede it (no te'n riguis; no us en rigueu). The apostrophes and hyphens are grammatical spelling, not optional punctuation. The pronoun en replaces the whole de-complement.

Riu-te'n, que d'aquí a una setmana aquesta errada no tindrà cap importància.

Laugh it off; a week from now this mistake won't matter at all.

No te'n riguis: a qualsevol li pot passar una cosa així.

Don't laugh at it; something like that can happen to anyone.

Plain riure, riure's de, and characteristic expressions

Plain riure describes laughter without presenting a target: els nens riuen. Pronominal riure's de is the normal construction for making fun of or dismissing a person or thing, whereas nonpronominal riure remains fully legitimate without that meaning and in expressions such as riure de gust. Do not strip the pronoun from a citation such as riure-se'n, but do not add it mechanically to every use of riure either.

Els nens reien al passadís perquè algú havia canviat el timbre del professor.

The children were laughing in the corridor because someone had changed the teacher's ringtone.

No es riuen de tu; es riuen de la situació absurda que s'ha creat.

They aren't laughing at you; they're laughing at the absurd situation that has arisen.

Fer riure is causative “make someone laugh,” while esclafir a riure means “burst out laughing.” Other natural collocations are riure de gust, riure per sota el nas and informal morir-se de riure. They show why English progressive “be laughing” often needs only a Catalan simple tense: aspect comes from context, not a mandatory progressive form.

La seva resposta tan seriosa ens va fer riure encara més.

His very serious answer made us laugh even more.

Quan va veure el pastís tort, va esclafir a riure davant de tothom.

When she saw the crooked cake, she burst out laughing in front of everyone.

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For “laugh at it,” learn the whole clitic unit: se'n riu, se'n va riure, no te'n riguis. The en represents de la situació / d'això.

Common Mistakes

❌ Està riguent perquè ha llegit el missatge equivocat.

Incorrect—the gerund is rient, not riguent.

✅ Està rient perquè ha llegit el missatge equivocat.

She's laughing because she read the wrong message.

❌ Quan érem petits, ríem de les mateixes bromes.

Incorrect for the intended imperfect—the stem is re- and first-person plural is rèiem.

✅ Quan érem petits, rèiem de les mateixes bromes.

When we were little, we used to laugh at the same jokes.

❌ No et rius de la seva pronunciació.

Incorrect as a familiar negative command—the subjunctive form is riguis.

✅ No et riguis de la seva pronunciació.

Don't laugh at his pronunciation.

❌ Sempre es riu a mi quan m'equivoco.

Incorrect—the target is introduced by de, not a.

✅ Sempre es riu de mi quan m'equivoco.

He always laughs at me when I make a mistake.

❌ Aquest matí hem riut amb les imitacions de la Júlia.

Incorrect—the participle is rigut, not riut.

✅ Aquest matí hem rigut amb les imitacions de la Júlia.

This morning we laughed at Júlia's impressions.

Key Takeaways

Retain ric, riem, reia, riguí, riuré, rigui, and rigut as the principal parts. Use rient without g, keep the velar stem throughout the subjunctive, and distinguish targetless riure from riure's de and its compact clitic realization riure-se'n.

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