笑います（わらいます、waraimasu）
- to laugh

The Japanese word 笑います (わらいます, warai-masu) means "to laugh" or "to smile." It expresses the action of showing amusement, joy, or friendliness through facial expressions, particularly by the movement of the mouth and eyes. It is a polite form, suitable for various contexts. It implies the speaker is currently laughing or generally laughs. The action is usually in present tense or habitual.

⚫︎彼笑います。 Translation: He laughs. ⚫︎その冗談を聞いて、私は笑いました。 Translation: I laughed at that joke. ⚫︎いつも笑っていてください。 Translation: Please always smile.

⚫︎笑います is used when you are describing someone laughing or smiling, or when you are stating that someone *does* laugh or smile. ⚫︎ It is a polite form of the verb, suitable for most situations. ⚫︎ Use it in present tense to describe a current action or a habitual action. ⚫︎ Use it with different sentence structures to fit a variety of situations.

⚫︎ The base form of the verb is 笑う (わらう, warau), written with the kanji 笑 and hiragana う. ⚫︎ 笑います is the polite present/future affirmative form, using the polite suffix ます. ⚫︎ The kanji 笑 can be used, but hiragana わらいます is also commonly used. ⚫︎ Okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is usually います.

⚫︎ にっこりします (nikkori-shimasu): to smile (in a softer, gentler way) ⚫︎ ほほえみます (hohoemi-masu): to smile gently, to beam ⚫︎ げらげら笑います (geragera warai-masu): to laugh uproariously (informal)

⚫︎ 泣きます (nakimasu): to cry ⚫︎ 怒ります (okori-masu): to get angry

面白い映画を見て、みんな笑っています。 ・Translation: They are laughing because they are watching a funny movie. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the action of laughing in the present continuous tense using the "-te iru" form of 笑います.

彼はいつもジョークを言うと、笑います。 ・Translation: He always laughs when he tells a joke. ・Explanation: This sentence describes a habitual action, something he does repeatedly, using the present tense 笑います.

⚫︎ The kanji 笑 (shou/warau) depicts a person's face expressing joy or amusement. ⚫︎ The word's origins are rooted in expressing emotions of happiness and mirth. ⚫︎The verb's base, 笑う, has existed in the Japanese language for a long time.