In English we say ‘today is my birthday’ but in German we use the verb haben (to have). Talking about when your, or someone else’s birthday is in German is a little different to English.
How to Say ‘When is Your Birthday?’ in German
This is my go-to birthday wish as I find it much easier to remember and to say! If you’re finding the first phrase a bit of a tongue twister ( Zungenbrecher = tongue breaker!) there is another really common phrase that’s a bit easier to pronounce.Īlles Gute zum Geburtstag literally means ‘all the best on your birthday’. Meaning: All the best on your birthday Alles Gute zum Geburtstag If you’re finding it a bit of a mouthful, you can always shorten it to Herzlichen Glückwunch (heartfelt congratulations). So literally translated it means ‘heartfelt congratulations on your birthday’.Ī wonderful, warm birthday wish that you can give to anyone. But don’t be intimidated by the length of it. This looks like the most German phrase ever, and seems much more complicated than a simple ‘happy birthday’.
The first of the two most common ways to say happy birthday in German. Meaning: Heartfelt congratulations on your birthday Herzlichen Glückwunch zum Geburtstag In this post we will look at how to say ‘happy birthday’ in German, as well as some of the birthday traditions that are common in Germany. Or perhaps you don’t live in a German speaking country, but would like to wish a happy birthday to your Sprachpartner (language partner). This song was written by Владимир Шаинский (Vladimir Shainsky) and Александр Тимофевский (Aleksandr Timofeevskiy) for the animation, and is popular among Russian speakers as a birthday song.Do you know someone whose birthday is coming up? Maybe you live in Germany and are wondering how to celebrate a friend’s birthday. An animation based on the characters from the book was created in 1969. Gena the Crocodile first appeared in 1966 in a book by Эдуард Успенский (Eduard Uspensky), Крокодил Гена и его друзья (Gena the Crocodile and His Friends). He'll probably leave 500 ice cream cones for me. Why is it that I'm so happy on such a dreary day. Here's another Russian song used to wish people a happy birthday.Īnd that the water is streaming down the street.Īnd never mind that the passers-by can't make sense of S dnyom rozhdeniya tebya mily/milaya (name), The word милый (mily - dear) is used for a man, and милая (milaya - dear) for a woman. Here's Russian song used to wish people a happy birthday.