Is it rire à or rire de

Question

Can you tell me whether rire takes à or de interchangeably?  Today I had "Il rit à ses propres blagues".  Yesterday "Il rit de ses canulars téléphoniques".  I cannot see why there is a difference.  Thank you!

Accepted Answer

Hi Mary, 
Firstly, where did you see -
Il rit à  ses blagues = He laughs at his jokes  ( meaning he laughs at his own  jokes or someone else's jokes) 
normally to laugh at something or someone is
rire de
ref the following link -
https://french.kwiziq.com/learn/theme/3907458
There are some expressions which use the preposition à with rire -

rire à gorge déployée = to laugh one's head off
rire à contrecœur = to give a forced laugh
rire au nez de quelqu'un = to mock with laughter
rire aux larmes = to laugh till you cry 
rire aux éclats = to roar with laughter

etc.
but all these don't have an object.
Hope this helps!

Answer

Rire de qqc -- to lough about something (Elle rit de mon nez. -- He laughs about my nose.)

Answer

Not sure about this, but based on the information above, I think rire de is to laugh AT or ABOUT someone or something. Rire a is to laugh in a particular way.

Answer

I had the same question as Mary - as it was in an exercise using “à ses blagues “.  and the day before I saw “des” in same context in a quiz here….

Answer

I had the same question as Mary - as it was in an exercise using “à ses blagues “.  and the day before I saw “des” in same context in a quiz here….