Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.

We will laugh about this difficult moment in the future.

Breakdown of Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.

• de: of
• nós: we
• em: in
• este: this
• difícil: difficult
• o momento: the moment
• o futuro: the future
• rir: to laugh
• haver de: to be going to

Questions & Answers about Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.

Why is havemos de rir used instead of vamos rir?

Both havemos de rir and vamos rir can translate as we will laugh, but they differ in nuance and style.

• havemos de rir (from haver de + infinitive) often suggests:

  • a future seen from a distance, almost like one day we’ll end up laughing about this;
  • a tone of hope, reassurance, or inevitability;
  • slightly more formal / literary, though still used in everyday European Portuguese.

• vamos rir (from ir + infinitive) is:

  • the most common spoken future in Portugal;
  • more neutral and colloquial, just a straightforward future: we’re going to laugh.

In your sentence, Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro sounds a bit like comforting someone: We’ll (surely / one day) laugh about this difficult moment in the future.

Is havemos de still used in modern European Portuguese, or is it old‑fashioned?

It is still used in modern European Portuguese, but:

• It is less frequent than vamos + infinitive in everyday speech.
• It often appears in:
  • reassuring or hopeful statements:
    
    • Havemos de conseguir. – We’ll manage it.
    • Havemos de melhorar. – We will get better.
  • more formal, literary or rhetorical language.

It is not archaic, but if you want the safest everyday form, you’d pick vamos rir. If you want a slightly more emphatic or “one‑day‑we‑will” feeling, havemos de rir is very natural in Portugal.

Is the subject pronoun nós necessary here, or could I just say Havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro?

You can definitely drop nós:

• Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.
• Havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.

Both are correct. In Portuguese, the verb ending (-emos in havemos) already shows the person (we), so subject pronouns are often optional.

Including nós:

• adds emphasis on we (as opposed to others);
• can make the sentence feel slightly clearer or more emphatic.

In neutral speech, most people would say just Havemos de rir….

What is the difference between rir and rir-se? Why does the sentence use rir?

In European Portuguese:

• rir and rir-se are both used and often mean the same thing: to laugh.
• rir-se is traditionally considered the pronominal / reflexive form, but it’s not truly reflexive in meaning; it’s more about idiomatic usage.

Typical patterns:

• rir:
  • rir alto – to laugh loudly
  • rir de algo / alguém – to laugh at something / someone
• rir-se:
  • rir-se de algo / alguém – same meaning: to laugh at something / someone
  • rir-se sozinho – to laugh by oneself

In practice, especially in Portugal, people mix them quite freely:

• Havemos de rir deste momento difícil.
• Havemos de nos rir deste momento difícil.

Here rir without se is perfectly natural: rir de algo = to laugh at something. Using rir-se de would also be OK, but the sentence with simple rir is already idiomatic and clear.

Why do we say rir de something (rir deste momento difícil) instead of using a direct object?

The verb rir in Portuguese normally takes the preposition de before what you are laughing at:

• rir de alguém – to laugh at someone
• rir de uma piada – to laugh at a joke
• rir deste momento difícil – to laugh at / about this difficult moment

So the pattern is rir de + noun / pronoun / phrase.

You cannot say rir este momento difícil; it would be ungrammatical. The de is required by the verb.

There are two de’s in the sentence: havemos de rir and rir deste momento difícil. Are they the same de?

They are the same word de, but they have different roles:

1. havemos de + infinitive

   • Here de is part of the fixed construction haver de + infinitive, which forms a future / intention meaning:
   • havemos de rir – we will (one day) laugh.

2. rir de + something

   • Here de is the normal preposition that goes with rir:
   • rir de algo – to laugh at something;
   • rir deste momento difícil – to laugh about this difficult moment.

So both are de, but:

• first de belongs to the periphrastic future (haver de + infinitive);
• second de is the preposition governed by the verb rir.

What exactly is deste in deste momento difícil? Is it one word or two?

Deste is a contraction of the preposition de + the demonstrative este:

• de + este = deste

So:

• rir de este momento difícil
  is grammatically possible in theory but never said;
• native speakers always contract it to rir deste momento difícil.

Similar contractions:

• de + esse = desse
• de + aquele = daquele

They all combine de with a nearby demonstrative (this/that).

How is deste different from desse and daquele?

All three are de + demonstrative, but they encode different distances (physical, mental, or discourse-related):

• deste momento – of this moment

  • este: close to the speaker in space, time, or thought; often something very present:
    • deste momento difícil – this difficult moment (we’re in right now)

• desse momento – of that moment (near you / just mentioned)

  • esse: close to the listener, or something just mentioned, or slightly more distant in time than este.

• daquele momento – of that (more distant) moment

  • aquele: generally far from both speaker and listener (in space, time, or narrative).

In your sentence, deste momento difícil nicely suggests the moment we are currently experiencing.

Is no futuro necessary, or is it redundant because havemos de already shows future?

Grammatically, no futuro is not necessary:

• Havemos de rir deste momento difícil.
  Already clearly refers to the future.

Adding no futuro:

• Havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.

is somewhat redundant but not wrong. It:

• adds extra emphasis on the idea of in the future, not now;
• may sound a bit heavy or didactic in a natural conversation.

A more natural version with the same nuance would often be:

• Um dia havemos de rir deste momento difícil. – One day we’ll laugh about this difficult moment.

Can I move no futuro to another place in the sentence? For example, No futuro, nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil?

Yes. Word order is fairly flexible for adverbials like no futuro, with slight differences in emphasis:

• No futuro, nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil.
  – Focuses on the time frame first: In the future, we’ll laugh…

• Nós havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.
  – More neutral; keeps the base order and adds no futuro at the end.

• Havemos de rir deste momento difícil no futuro.
  – Same meaning, a bit more fluid without nós.

All are correct; the choice is mostly about style and emphasis.

Why is difícil after momento? Could I say este difícil momento instead?

Normally in Portuguese, most adjectives come after the noun:

• um momento difícil – a difficult moment
• uma casa grande – a big house

So deste momento difícil is the default and sounds completely natural.

You can say este difícil momento, but:

• it sounds more literary / emotional;
• in many contexts it adds a slight nuance of evaluation or emphasis:
  este difícil momento – this difficult (and perhaps painful / important) moment.

In your sentence, deste momento difícil is the most neutral, idiomatic order.

Why not use the simple future riremos instead of havemos de rir?

You can say:

• Nós riremos deste momento difícil no futuro.

It is grammatically correct, but in modern spoken European Portuguese:

• The simple future (riremos) is:

  • less common in everyday speech;
  • often felt as formal, written, or slightly stiff.

• The periphrastic futures are more usual:

  • vamos rir – very common, neutral;
  • havemos de rir – common, slightly more expressive / hopeful.

So while riremos isn’t wrong, havemos de rir sounds more natural in speech, especially in a comforting or hopeful context.

How is havemos pronounced, and is the h silent?

Pronunciation in European Portuguese:

• havemos ≈ ah-VE-mush

  • h is silent; Portuguese h at the start of a word is never pronounced.
  • stress on the second syllable: a-VE-mos.
  • the final -os is often reduced and sounds like -ush / -us in fast speech.
• Nós – nasal vowel, roughly like nawsh
• rir – rolled or guttural r (depending on accent); vowel like English ear without the glide; ends with a final r that is actually pronounced in most EP accents: roughly heer with a stronger r at the end.

So Nós havemos de rir sounds roughly:
[Nawsh a-VE-mush dɨ heer] in a simplified transcription, with reduced unstressed vowels and a pronounced final r in rir.

Would Brazilians say the same sentence in the same way?

They would understand it, but they would not usually say it like that.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

• haver de + infinitive is rare and literary; most speakers almost never use it in speech.
• They would prefer:
  • Nós vamos rir deste momento difícil no futuro.
  • or more naturally just: Nós ainda vamos rir deste momento difícil. / Um dia ainda vamos rir deste momento difícil.

Also, in Brazil:

• rir (without se) is more common than rir-se, while in Portugal rir-se is also quite frequent.
• Pronunciation is quite different (non-reduced vowels, different r, etc.), but grammatically the main difference is the avoidance of haver de in speech.