慶祝 / 庆祝
qìngzhù
To celebrate in Chinese is to say 慶祝 / 庆祝 (qìngzhù). Wiktionary also lists 慶賀 / 庆贺 (qìnghè).
Meaning: to engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event (verb)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 慶祝 / 庆祝 | qìngzhù |
| 慶賀 / 庆贺 | qìnghè |
The verb is used to describe engaging in joyful activities to appreciate an event, such as a holiday or an anniversary.
Which one should you use?
慶祝 / 庆祝 is the standard way to express the act of celebrating an event. In contrast, 慶賀 / 庆贺 is a more formal alternative that often carries the nuance of 'congratulating' or celebrating a joyous occasion with more ceremonial weight.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb 慶祝 / 庆祝 is transitive and is typically followed directly by the object being celebrated. To refer to a 'celebration' as a noun (the event or activities themselves), you can add 活动 (huódòng), meaning 'activities', to form 庆祝活动.
How do you pronounce it?
qìngzhù
Did you know?
- In traditional Chinese culture, celebrating a birthday often involves eating 長壽麵 (chángshòu miàn), or 'longevity noodles', which must be eaten without breaking or cutting the strand.
- When celebrating a wedding or a new business, people avoid the color white and instead use red, as white is traditionally associated with funerals and mourning.
- In China, it is common to celebrate the 'Hundred Days' (百日) of a baby's life, a milestone that is often more formally marked than the actual birth.
Examples in context
- 我们要庆祝我的生日。We are going to celebrate my birthday.
- 她向我表示庆贺，因为我通过了考试。She congratulated me because I passed the exam.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “celebrate” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
