"Why are you always laughing?"

Translation: Kial vi ĉiam ridas?

[BigMac_ComboMeal]

Cxar mi ne ridas, mi plorus.

[poltomin]

Why is it "are you always laughing" and not "do you always laugh" in the English translation? When you say this in English without a context it sounds to me a bit as a complaint. Is it only me? If not, I think a more neutral wording should be used (as in the Esperanto version it's neutral).

[sothisislife101]

Why is "Kial ĉiam vi ridas?" not accepted? Does this have a significantly different meaning?

[mizinamo]

I would understand your sentence as "Why is it always you that's laughing?".

So, in Duo's sentence, the "ĉiam" modifies "ridas"; in yours, it modifies "vi".

[benulo]

I got this sentence right because I speak a language that doesn't really distinguish between laughing and smiling, so I put ridas. In Persian you can alternatively distinguish them by saying "labĥand" for "smile" (lit. lip-laugh), or utilize the Arabic term "tabassum" for smile.

In Esperanto are there different words for laughing and smiling?

[mizinamo]

Usually, ridi is "laugh" and rideti is "smile" -- so "little-laugh" or something like that.

(Theoretically, rideti could also refer to a small laugh - a chuckle, perhaps - but in practice, it's lexicalised to mean "smile". PIV defines it only as the soundless mouth movement.)

[HeroRobb]

Theon cxiam ridis. Poste, li ne ridas iam.