tu cumpleaños
/tu kumpleaɲos/from spelling rules
In Spanish, your birthday is translated as tu cumpleaños.
To say Happy Birthday, the most common way is Feliz Cumpleaños.
Which one should you use?
Use tu cumpleaños for friends, family or people your age, whereas su cumpleaños is used for elders or in professional settings.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, it is common to say Felicidades en tu día to mean Congratulations on your day.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes from tu cumpleaños to su cumpleaños when addressing someone using the formal usted instead of the informal tú. Note that the word cumpleaños is always used in its plural form, even when referring to a single birthday.
How do you pronounce it?
/tu kumpleaɲos/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, it is common to celebrate tu cumpleaños with a tradition called la mordida, where the birthday person's face is pushed into the cake.
- In some Latin American countries, people sing a version of 'Happy Birthday' called Las Mañanitas which is a traditional serenata rather than a direct translation of the English song.
- The word cumpleaños literally translates to 'fulfills years' because a birthday is seen as the moment you 'fulfill' a cycle of years.
Examples in context
- ¿Hoy es tu cumpleaños?Is it your birthday today?Tatoeba #3030920 by hayastan, translation #2644536 by CK
- Se acerca tu cumpleaños.Your birthday is drawing near.Tatoeba #9969843 by Shishir, translation #16999 by Zifre
- ¿Cómo estuvo tu cumpleaños?How was your birthday?Tatoeba #1624409 by marcelostockle, translation #276750 by Eldad
- 31 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are talking about upcoming plans.
- DanielSofía, ¿cuándo es tu cumpleaños?Sofía, when is your birthday?
- SofíaMi cumpleaños es el diez de mayo.My birthday is May tenth.
- DanielQuiero comprar un regalo para tu cumpleaños.I want to buy a gift for your birthday.
- Sofía¡Muchas gracias, Daniel!Thank you very much, Daniel!
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cumpleaños, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
