祝你生日快乐
zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè
祝你生日快乐 (zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè) is the Chinese way to say happy birthday to you.
This phrase is a common greeting used to wish someone a happy day on their birthday and is the standard way to sing the 'Happy Birthday' song melody in Chinese.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to 'wish you birthday happy'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, the equivalent phrase is 生日快樂！
How does it change in a sentence?
You can adjust the phrase depending on who you are addressing. Replacing 你 (nǐ) with the polite form 您 (nín) makes the phrase more respectful when addressing elders or superiors. To wish a group of people a happy birthday, you can change 你 (nǐ) to 你们 (nǐmen).
How do you pronounce it?
zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè
Did you know?
- In some traditional Chinese culture, the concept of 'age' is calculated from conception rather than birth, so a person might actually be a year older than their English-speaking peers when celebrating.
- In many parts of China, people often focus more on wishing someone 'longevity' than 'happiness' if the person is an elder, using phrases like 长寿 (chángshòu) instead of 快乐 (kuàilè).
- Traditional celebrations often feature 长寿面 (chángshòu miàn) or 'longevity noodles', as the length of the noodle symbolically represents a long life.
Examples in context
- 祝你生日快乐。Happy birthday to you!This example shows how to use 祝你生日快乐 to wish someone a happy birthday.Tatoeba #759364 by vgigregg, translation #64233 by shekitten
- 生日快乐，[Name]！Happy Birthday, [Name]!
- 祝您生日快乐，天天开心！Wishing you a happy birthday and happiness every day!
- 祝你生日快乐，永远年轻！Wishing you a happy birthday, forever young!
- 祝你生日快乐，朋友！Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè, péngyǒu!Happy birthday to you, friend!
- 我想对你说，祝你生日快乐。Wǒ xiǎng duì nǐ shuō, zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè.I want to say to you, happy birthday to you.
Example conversation
Jiayi gives a small gift to Zhiqiang at a cafe.
- 佳怡 Jiayi志强，祝你生日快乐！Zhìqiáng, zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!Zhiqiang, happy birthday to you!
- 志强 Zhiqiang谢谢你，佳怡。Xièxiè nǐ, Jiāyí.Thank you, Jiayi.
- 佳怡 Jiayi这是送给你的礼物。Zhè shì sòng gěi nǐ de lǐwù.This is a gift for you.
- 志强 Zhiqiang太棒了，我很喜欢。Tài bàng le, wǒ hěn xǐhuān.That's great, I like it very much.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
