...是在笑话我

[kavanin]

A: 你是觉得开玩笑没有意思吗?

B: 不是。我是觉得同学跟我开玩笑常常是在笑话我。

I think I'm lost in the last part of the sentence. I tend to understand it like "... is for laughing at me," but no dictionary lists "for" as one of the meanings of 在.

Can you please help me understand the sentence?

[abcdefg]

Any chance it could be a typo?

Instead of: 我是觉得同学跟我开玩笑常常是在笑话我。

This might make more sense: 我是觉得同学跟我开玩笑常常 实在 笑话我。

[skylee]

No, I don't mind jokes. But the problem is that I think my classmates are always laughting at me.

I have no problem with 常常是在笑話我. And I don't think 實在 would be more appropriate.

[li3wei1]

在's function is to turn 笑 into a gerund. I think it would be better without the 話.

[skylee]

I think both 笑 and 笑話 are ok.

[Orpheus]

I'm with skylee, and I think 在 in that clause is used to indicate the progressive aspect of it, just like how we would say it in English: ...my classmates are always laughing at me.

[kavanin]

Thank you all.