Happy birthday
A very common and informal abbreviation, like saying 'Happy B-day!'. Use it with friends and family.
A follow-up phrase meaning 'May you have many more!'. It's said right after the main birthday wish.
Means 'Congratulations on your day!'. A slightly more formal and warm alternative.
Happy birthday, grandma! I love you very much.
Today is my friend Carlos's birthday. Happy b-day, Carlos!
Happy birthday! I wish you the best. May you have many more!
Hello, Mr. Ramírez. Congratulations on your day!
The phrase 'Feliz cumpleaños' is universal and understood everywhere. The main variations are in the traditional songs sung.
The traditional birthday song is 'Las Mañanitas,' which is often sung in the morning to wake up the birthday person. It's more common than the standard 'Happy Birthday' song.
In addition to the standard 'Cumpleaños Feliz' song, a very popular vallenato song by Diomedes Díaz called 'Tu Cumpleaños' is often played at parties.
The 'Happy Birthday' song is sung as 'Que los cumplas feliz.' In Argentina, it's a tradition to pull the person's earlobes once for each year of their age.
The phrase is the same, but the birthday song uses 'vosotros': 'Cumpleaños feliz, te deseamos a ti...' (Happy birthday, we wish it to you...). They also have the tradition of 'dar un tirón de orejas' (pulling the ears).
Contento cumpleaños. — Feliz cumpleaños. — While 'contento' can mean 'happy,' the fixed phrase for birthdays is always 'Feliz cumpleaños.' 'Feliz' is used for general states of happiness and well-wishes.
Feliz cumpleaños a tú. — Feliz cumpleaños a ti. — After a preposition like 'a' (to), you must use the prepositional pronoun 'ti' instead of the subject pronoun 'tú'. 'Tú' means 'you' as the subject (Tú eres mi amigo), while 'ti' means 'you' as the object of a preposition (Esto es para ti).
Feliz nacimiento. — Feliz cumpleaños. — 'Nacimiento' means 'birth.' You are wishing someone a happy anniversary of their birth ('cumpleaños'), not a happy birth itself.
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