Hoy me he reído muchísimo con mi hermano porque contamos chistes.

Today I have laughed a lot with my brother because we tell jokes.

Breakdown of Hoy me he reído muchísimo con mi hermano porque contamos chistes.

• yo: I
• con: with
• mi: my
• nosotros: we
• hoy: today
• el hermano: the brother
• porque: because
• me: me
• contar: to tell
• haber: to have
• reírse: to laugh
• muchísimo: a lot
• el chiste: the joke

Questions & Answers about Hoy me he reído muchísimo con mi hermano porque contamos chistes.

Why is me used before he reído?

In Spanish, reír often appears in its reflexive form reírse, which uses pronouns like me (myself), te (yourself), etc. Saying me he reído emphasizes that I myself was doing the laughing. This is similar to how Spanish sometimes treats certain actions reflexively even if English does not.

Why do we use the present perfect tense (he reído) here instead of a simple past tense?

In Spanish, the present perfect tense indicates an action that happened in the past but still has relevance to the present moment. Saying Hoy me he reído muchísimo implies that the laughing occurred recently and might still be affecting you right now. If you used me reí, that would simply place the action in the past without the same present connection.

Could we say Hoy me reí muchísimo instead, and would it be correct?

Yes, Hoy me reí muchísimo would still be correct and understandable. However, it subtly shifts the focus to sounding more completely in the past, whereas me he reído is more common when you want to emphasize that it happened "today" and is still relevant or has some immediate effect.

Why do we say contamos for "we told" if it's also present tense for "we tell"?

Spanish uses the simple present form contamos for both "we tell" and "we told" when describing something that happened in the recent past if there’s a sense of immediacy. It’s also common in some dialects to use the present tense to narrate events that just took place, making the story feel more vivid. However, you could also say contamos as part of a habitual action (“We tell jokes regularly”) or use the preterite form contamos meaning “We told jokes (at some point in the past).” The form is the same in the present and preterite for the verb contar, but the context clarifies the meaning.

Is it acceptable to say Hoy me reí muchísimo con mi hermano porque estuvimos contando chistes?

Absolutely. You can use the preterite progressive form (estuvimos contando) to highlight the action was ongoing in the past. This variation is also correct and simply puts a bit more emphasis on the duration or continuous nature of telling jokes in the past. Both options are valid, just slightly different in nuance or style.