hoy es mi cumpleaños
/oi es mi kumpleaɲos/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "today is my birthday" is said as hoy es mi cumpleaños.
This phrase is used to state that the current date is the anniversary of your birth.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of hoy (today), es (is), mi (my) and cumpleaños (birthday). The word cumpleaños is a compound of cumple (from the verb cumplir, to fulfill or complete) and años (years).
Which one should you use?
While hoy es mi cumpleaños is the standard way to state the fact, you may also hear ¡Hoy cumplo años!, which literally translates to "Today I turn years old."
How does it change in a sentence?
The word cumpleaños is a masculine noun. While the possessive adjective mi is gender-neutral and can be used with both masculine and feminine nouns, it is used here with the masculine noun cumpleaños.
How do you pronounce it?
/oi es mi kumpleaɲos/
When do people say it?
When someone tells you hoy es mi cumpleaños, the standard and expected response is ¡Feliz cumpleaños! (Happy birthday!).
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, a birthday celebration might include 'la mordida', where the birthday person is encouraged to take a bite of the cake without using their hands.
- Unlike English, where 'birthday' is always singular, the Spanish word cumpleaños always ends in 's' regardless of whether you are celebrating one birthday or many.
- The English word 'is' and the Spanish word es are distant cousins, both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁ésti.
Examples in context
- Resulta que hoy es mi cumpleaños.It so happens that today is my birthday.This sentence shows how the phrase can be used to explain a coincidence.Tatoeba #1012940 by Shishir, translation #40550 by Swift
- Hoy es mi cumpleaños.Today is my birthday.This is a direct statement of the fact.Tatoeba #985107 by riccioberto, translation #985108 by riccioberto
- ¡Hoy es mi cumpleaños!Today is my birthday!This is an enthusiastic exclamation of the fact.Tatoeba #10301990 by DJ_Saidez, translation #9306222 by Lillith
- Encantado de informarles que hoy es mi cumpleaños. ¡Gracias por sus buenos deseos!I'm delighted to inform you that today is my birthday. Thank you for your good wishes!
Example conversation
Daniel tells Sofía the news at a coffee shop.
- DanielSofía, ¡hoy es mi cumpleaños!Sofía, today is my birthday!
- Sofía¡Qué bien! Muchas felicidades, Daniel.How great! Many happy returns, Daniel.
- DanielGracias, ¿quieres un café para celebrar?Thanks, do you want a coffee to celebrate?
- Sofía¡Claro que sí!Of course!
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cumpleaños, es, hoy, mi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
