right to the pursuit of happiness
- noun
- /raɪt tə ðə pərˈsuːt əv ˈhæpɪnəs/
- Formal
:
derecho a la búsqueda de la felicidad
- In every democratic society, citizens are entitled to the right to the pursuit of happiness without oppression.
Examples
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The Declaration of Independence states that all individuals have an unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.
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Many people believe that everyone has a natural right to the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental human right.
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"She took very seriously indeed Thomas Jefferson's idea that human beings have a natural right to the pursuit of happiness."
Blog text (33)
Surface Forms
Morphology
right + to + the + pursuit + of + happiness
The key content words — 'right' (entitlement), 'pursuit' (making efforts), and 'happiness' (joy) — combine compositionally so a learner who knows those words can infer the phrase as the entitlement to try to achieve happiness. The grammar pattern 'right to X' and the notion 'pursuit of happiness' are conceptually straightforward and mirrored in many languages, making the overall meaning predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Right to the pursuit of happiness comes from the United States Declaration of Independence, where it appears with 'life' and 'liberty' as a basic right. The word pursuit gives a clear image of chasing or going after what makes you happy, so today the phrase means the right to try to find what makes you happy.
