feliz cumpleaños a ti
/feliθ kumpleaɲos a ti/from spelling rules
The English phrase "happy birthday to you" is translated into Spanish as feliz cumpleaños a ti.
This phrase is used to wish someone well on the anniversary of their birth. In casual settings, it is most common to simply say ¡Feliz cumpleaños! to mean "Happy Birthday."
How do you pronounce it?
/feliθ kumpleaɲos a ti/
When do people say it?
In many Latin American cultures, rather than using the melody of the English "Happy Birthday to You," people sing a traditional song called Las Mañanitas to celebrate birthdays.
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, people may shout ¡Mordida!, which is a playful demand for the birthday person to take a bite of the cake while their face is pushed into it.
- While feliz cumpleaños is universal, some regions use the phrase feliz onomástico to specifically celebrate a person's name day, which is the feast day of the saint they are named after.
- The Spanish word cumplir used in cumpleaños is also used to say 'to be' a certain age, such as cumplo veinte años for 'I am turning twenty'.
Example conversation
Sofía is singing to Alejandro at his party.
- Sofía¡Feliz cumpleaños a ti, Alejandro!Happy birthday to you, Alejandro!
- Alejandro¡Muchas gracias, Sofía!Thank you very much, Sofía!
- SofíaEspero que tengas un gran día.I hope you have a great day.
- AlejandroTú también eres muy amable.You are also very kind.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
