Feliz cumpleaños, te amo
/feˈliθ kumpleˈaɲos te ˈamo/word by word
To say "happy birthday I love you" in Spanish, use Feliz cumpleaños, te amo.
This phrase is used as a warm greeting to wish someone a happy birthday while simultaneously expressing deep love for them.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of Feliz (happy), cumpleaños (birthday), te (you, as an object) and amo (I love).
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase te amo, the pronoun te is placed before the conjugated verb amo to indicate that you are the object of the love. Additionally, cumpleaños is a compound noun formed by combining cumple and años.
How do you pronounce it?
/feˈliθ kumpleˈaɲos te ˈamo/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the birthday celebration is centered around la mordida, where the birthday person is encouraged to take a bite of the cake before others push their face into it.
- In some Latin American countries, it is common to sing Las Mañanitas instead of or in addition to the standard 'happy birthday' song to wake the celebrant with love.
- While te amo is used in the phrase, many Spanish speakers might use te quiero for a birthday greeting to a friend or family member, as 'amo' can sound intensely romantic or even heavy in certain contexts.
Examples in context
- ¡Feliz cumpleaños! Te quiero un montón.Happy Birthday! I love you a lot.
- ¡Feliz cumpleaños, te amo mucho!Happy birthday, I love you very much!
- Feliz cumpleaños, te amo, mi amor.Happy birthday, I love you, my love.
Example conversation
Sofía is giving Mateo a birthday card.
- Sofía¡Feliz cumpleaños, te amo, Mateo!Happy birthday, I love you, Mateo!
- MateoMuchas gracias, Sofía, eres muy linda.Thank you so much, Sofia, you are very sweet.
- SofíaEspero que tengas un día increíble.I hope you have an incredible day.
- MateoLo será porque estoy contigo.It will be, because I am with you.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (feliz, cumpleaños, te, amo) and can differ in connected speech.
