誕生日おめでとう
tanjōbi omedetō[tã̠ɲ̟d͡ʑo̞ːbʲi o̞me̞de̞to̞ː]
hbd is an abbreviation for Happy Birthday used in Japanese digital messages.
The term hbd is an English abbreviation used by Japanese speakers in digital contexts, such as on social networking services (SNS), as a shorthand for Happy Birthday. While it is not a native Japanese abbreviation, it is used due to English influence in digital communication.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase 誕生日おめでとう uses the informal form of congratulations by omitting the polite particle ございます. To make the phrase polite, you can add ございます to the end to form 誕生日おめでとうございます. Additionally, adding the honorific prefix お before 誕生日 is a way to show respect to the person celebrating their birthday.
How do you pronounce it?
tanjōbi omedetō
Did you know?
- While English speakers use 'hbd' as a shorthand, Japanese speakers frequently use the katakana version ハピバ (hapiba), which is a contraction of 'Happy Birthday'.
- In highly informal youth slang, 誕生日おめでとう is sometimes shortened to たんおめ in text messages.
- The concept of a birthday was not widely celebrated in Japan until the influence of Western customs in the Meiji era, meaning the language's birthday vocabulary is relatively modern.
Examples in context
- 会議の合間に、お誕生日おめでとうございます！During the meeting break, Happy Birthday!
- お誕生日おめでとう！楽しい一日を過ごしてくださいね！Happy Birthday! Have a wonderful day!
- 改めて、誕生日おめでとう。aratamete, tanjoubi omedetou.Happy birthday once again.
- LINEで誕生日おめでとうって送ったよ。LINE de tanjoubi omedetou tte okutta yo.I sent a 'happy birthday' on LINE.
Example conversation
Ren sends a quick message to Hiromi on her birthday.
- 陽葵 Himariあ、蓮からLINEが来た！A, Ren kara LINE ga kita!Oh, I got a LINE message from Ren!
- 蓮 Ren誕生日おめでとう！tanjoubi omedetou!Happy birthday!
- 陽葵 Himariありがとう！嬉しいよ。arigatou! ureshii yo.Thank you! I'm so happy.
- 蓮 Ren素敵な一日をね。suteki na ichinichi o ne.Have a wonderful day.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 誕生日おめでとう, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
