¿qué quieres para tu cumpleaños?
The English phrase "what do you want for your birthday?" is translated into Spanish as ¿qué quieres para tu cumpleaños?
This phrase is used to ask someone which gift they would like to receive for their birthday. You may also hear the more emotive expression ¿Qué te hace ilusión recibir en tu cumpleaños?, which translates to "What would make you happy to receive on your birthday?"
Which one should you use?
While ¿qué quieres para tu cumpleaños? is the standard informal way to ask the question, you can use ¿Qué te gustaría para tu cumpleaños? to say "What would you like for your birthday?" specifically in Spain.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, speakers often use the colloquial short form cumple instead of the full word cumpleaños in casual conversation.
How does it change in a sentence?
To maintain formal consistency when addressing someone as usted, you must change the verbs and possessive adjectives. Instead of the informal quieres and tu, use the formal quiere and su, resulting in ¿qué quiere para su cumpleaños?
Did you know?
- In Mexico, the celebration of a birthday often includes a mordida, where the guest of honor is encouraged to take a bite of the cake without using their hands, often resulting in their face being pushed into the frosting.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, it is common for the person celebrating the birthday to pay for the meal or drinks for their friends, rather than the guests paying for the birthday person.
- The word cumpleaños is a compound of the verb cumplir, meaning 'to fulfill' or 'to complete', and años, meaning 'years'. Literally, a birthday is a 'year-fulfiller'.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué quieres para tu cumpleaños? ¿Un libro o un videojuego?What do you want for your birthday? A book or a video game?
- No sé qué decirte, ¿qué quieres para tu cumpleaños?I don't know what to tell you, what do you want for your birthday?
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are chatting over coffee.
- LucíaOye Javier, ¿qué quieres para tu cumpleaños?Hey Javier, what do you want for your birthday?
- JavierNo estoy seguro todavía.I am not sure yet.
- Lucía¡Piénsalo y me dices!Think about it and tell me!
- JavierVale, lo haré.Okay, I will.
