生日快乐
hbd is the English abbreviation for the Chinese phrase 生日快乐.
生日快乐 is the most common and straightforward way to wish someone a happy birthday in Chinese.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 生日 meaning 'birthday' and 快乐 meaning 'happy'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For a more polite version used to show respect to someone older or in a higher position, you can use 祝您生日快乐. In casual settings, you might use 生日快乐啊 to say Happy Birthday or use 生日快乐哦 to express familiarity and affection.
How does it change in a sentence?
Unlike English, which uses an adjective phrase, this Chinese phrase functions as a complete greeting and does not require a subject like 'I wish you…' to be grammatically natural. For example, the part 祝您 means 'I wish you'.
Did you know?
- Giving clocks as a birthday gift is considered a major taboo because the phrase 'giving a clock' sounds like 'attending a funeral' in Chinese.
- When celebrating a birthday, it is common to eat 长寿面 or 'longevity noodles', which are left long and uncut to symbolize a long life.
- If you are sending this via text, many young people use the numbers '520' or '521' near birthday wishes because they sound similar to 'I love you' in Chinese.
Examples in context
- 祝你生日快乐。Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè.I wish you a happy birthday.
- 祝姐姐生日快乐！Zhù jiějie shēngrì kuàilè!Happy birthday to my older sister!
Example conversation
Haoran visits Yuting at her birthday party.
- 浩然 Haoran雨婷，生日快乐！Yǔtíng, shēngrì kuàilè!Yuting, happy birthday!
- 雨婷 Yuting谢谢你，浩然。Xièxie nǐ, Hàorán.Thank you, Haoran.
- 浩然 Haoran这是送给你的礼物。Zhè shì sòng gěi nǐ de lǐwù.This is a gift for you.
- 雨婷 Yuting太棒了，我很喜欢！Tài bàng le, wǒ hěn xǐhuan!That's great, I love it!
