私の誕生日
watashi no tanjōbi
私の誕生日 (watashi no tanjōbi) is the Japanese way to say "my birthday".
The phrase refers to the anniversary of the day a person was born.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the first-person pronoun 私 (watashi), the possessive particle の (no) and the word for birthday 誕生日 (tanjōbi).
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
私の誕生日 is a formal expression. For a more polite or even more formal version, you can use 私のお誕生日.
How does it change in a sentence?
The particle の (no) is used to link the pronoun 私 (watashi) to the noun 誕生日 (tanjōbi) to indicate possession.
How do you pronounce it?
watashi no tanjōbi
Did you know?
- Japanese people may use the term 数え年 (kazue-doshi) to calculate their age, which considers the time spent in the womb and makes everyone one year older on New Year's Day.
- When speaking to a superior or a customer, you would replace 私の (watashi no) with something much more humble, but you would never use the polite version お誕生日 (otanjōbi) to refer to your own birthday.
- The concept of a birthday was not widely celebrated in Japan until the modern era, as traditional life focused more on the New Year, when everyone aged one year collectively.
Examples in context
- 明日は私の誕生日だ。Tomorrow is my birthday.This sentence is useful for stating that tomorrow is my birthday using the form 私の誕生日.Tatoeba #234468 by bunbuku, translation #71844 by CK
- 明日は私の誕生日です。Tomorrow's my birthday.Tatoeba #80434 by bunbuku, translation #2253782 by CK
- もうすぐ私の誕生日だ。My birthday is coming soon.This sentence is useful for saying my birthday is coming soon using the form 私の誕生日.Tatoeba #194434 by bunbuku, translation #31606 by CK
- 21 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ren and Misaki are talking about their special dates.
- 蓮 Ren美咲さんはいつが誕生日？Misaki-san wa itsu ga tanjoubi?When is your birthday, Misaki?
- 美咲 Misaki十月だよ。蓮くんは？Juugatsu dayo. Ren-kun wa?It's in October. How about you, Ren?
- 蓮 Ren私の誕生日は十二月なんだ。Watashi no tanjoubi wa juunigatsu nanda.My birthday is in December.
- 美咲 Misaki冬に生まれてたんてね！Fuyu ni umarete tan te ne!Oh, so you were born in winter!
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
