Word
A anedota era hilariante, por isso eles desataram a rir descontroladamente.
Meaning
The joke was hilarious, so they burst out laughing uncontrollably.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of A anedota era hilariante, por isso eles desataram a rir descontroladamente.
ser
to be
eles
they (m)
por isso
therefore / so (for that reason)
rir
to laugh
Questions & Answers about A anedota era hilariante, por isso eles desataram a rir descontroladamente.
What is the exact difference between desataram a rir and just começaram a rir?
While começar a simply means "to start," the structure desatar a followed by an infinitive emphasizes a sudden, explosive, or highly emotional start to an action. It is most commonly used with verbs like laughing, crying, or running, translating perfectly to the English phrase "to burst out."
Since the current lesson also covers pôr-se a, could we say eles puseram-se a rir instead?
Yes, but there is a slight nuance in feeling. Both desatar a and pôr-se a indicate the sudden initiation of an action. However, desatar a suggests an abrupt loss of restraint, which fits perfectly with the adverb descontroladamente (uncontrollably). Pôr-se a can sometimes feel a little less dramatic or slightly more deliberate.
Why do we use the Imperfect tense for era but the Preterite (Pretérito Perfeito) for desataram?
This is a classic example of how the two past tenses interact. Era hilariante describes an ongoing characteristic of the joke or sets the background state (Imperfect). In contrast, desataram a rir represents the sudden, completed event that happened at a specific moment as a reaction to that background state (Preterite).
I learned that "joke" is piada. Can I use piada instead of anedota here?