The most common way to say "happy birthday" in Spanish is "feliz cumpleaños", but there are other Spanish expressions you can use when you wish someone a birthday. Here are some of the most useful to know.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: "Happy Birthday" Normal
Step 1. Exclaim "¡Feliz cumpleaños
"This is the classic and simplest way to say" happy birthday "in Spanish.
- Feliz in Spanish means "happy".
- Cumpleaños is a noun which in Spanish means "birthday" and is a compound word. "Cumple" comes from the verb "cumplir", which means "to complete" or "to accomplish". The word "años" means "years". Note the tilde above the "n" in "años"; it is essential for the word to keep its meaning.
- These wishes are pronounced felis cumpleagnos.
Method 2 of 2: Other Common Birthday Wishes
Step 1. Wishes "¡Felicidades
This is a congratulatory expression often used on birthdays and other occasions.
- Felicidades literally translates as "congratulations" or "congratulations". It is used only as an interjection, but is related to the Spanish noun "felicitaciones" which has the same meaning.
- While it may seem odd to congratulate someone on their birthday, it is acceptable in almost any Spanish-speaking country. Basically you congratulate the birthday boy on the end of a year and the beginning of a new one.
- Pronounce this expression as "felisidades".
Step 2. Specify "¡Felicidades en tu día
This is another expression to congratulate, but more specific than simple felicidades.
- Felicidades means "congratulations" in this case too.
- En means "in" or "in", in this case, tu means "your" and día means "day".
- Note that when talking to someone you are not familiar with, you should say "up" instead of "you". With the term "up" you say "her" to the person you are addressing.
- The whole sentence translates as "Congratulations on your day!"
- Pronounce it as felisidades en tu dia.
Step 3. Wishes "¡Felicidades en el aniversario del día en que tu has nacido
This expression is much less common than others, but it is the most specific you can use on the occasion of a birthday.
- El aniversario is the Spanish term for "the anniversary".
- Del is an articulated preposition, made up of "de", which means "of" and "el", which means "the". "El" refers to the word "día", which means "day".
- The phrase "en que tu has nacido" translates to "where you were born". "Nacido" is the past participle of the Spanish verb "nacer", which means "to be born".
- Overall, the phrase means "Congratulations in the opponent on the day you were born".
- You can pronounce this phrase as felisidades en el aniversario del dia en ke tu as nasido.
Step 4. Wishes "¡Que cumplas muchos más
"This expression is equivalent to saying in Italian" one hundred of these days "after wishing a happy birthday.
- Que translates as "that".
- Cumplas comes from the Spanish verb "cumplir" and means "to complete" or "to accomplish".
- Muchos is the plural form of "mucho" and means "many".
- Más means "more".
- When translated literally, this phrase means "may you do many more". Basically you are wishing the birthday boy to have many more birthdays after this one.
- Pronounce the whole expression as ke cumplas mucios mas.
Step 5. Say "¡Que tengas un feliz día
Although this expression is slightly less specific for a birthday, it is commonly used in the Spanish language to wish the birthday boy happiness.
- The phrase literally translates as "may you have a happy day". Using it, you wish the birthday boy happiness, even if you don't specify it in words.
- Que means "that", "feliz" means "happy" and "día" means "day".
- Tengas is the conjugate form of the verb "tener", which means "to have".
- Pronounce the sentence as ke tengas un felis dia.
Step 6. Ask "¿Cuántos años tienes?
With this question ask the birthday boy what his age is.
- Translated directly the question means "how old are you?".
- Cuántos means "How many".
- Años means "years". Note that the tilde above the "n" is essential for the word to retain its meaning.
- Tienes is the conjugate form of the verb "tener", which means "to have".
- Pronounce the question as quantos agnos tienes.
