The most common ways to say "happy birthday" in German are "Alles Gute um Geburtstag" and "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag." But there are also a number of other ways to wish a happy birthday. Here are some examples that you might find useful.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Basic German
Step 1. Say "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag
"This sentence has the closest meaning to the "Happy Birthday" used in Germany, and means more or less "all the best to you on your birthday".
- Alles is a pronoun meaning "all" or "all."
- Gute comes from the adjective "gut," which means "good," "good," or "beautiful."
- The word zum comes from the German preposition "zu," which means "to" or "to share."
- Geburtstag means "Birthday" in German.
- Pronounce the whole birthday greeting as ah-less goo-teh tsuhm geh-buhrtz-tahg.
Step 2. Say "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag
This sentence is also a common birthday greeting.
- This can be interpreted as "with all my heart I wish you a happy birthday" or "wish you always be happy."
- Herzlichen comes from the German adjective "herzlich," which means "with all my heart," "sincerely," or "sincerely."
- Glückwunsch means "congratulations."
- The word zum means "up" or "to," and Geburtstag means "birthday."
- Pronounce this sentence as hairtz-lich ("ch" as in "aCH" NOT as "CHair")-enn glook-vuhnsh tsoom geh-buhrtz-tahg.
Step 3. Say "Herzlichen Glückwunsch nachträglich" or "Nachträglich alles Gute zum Geburtstag" for a belated birthday wish
Both of them said "happy belated birthday" in English, which means a late birthday greeting, not on the actual birthday.
- Nachträglich means "later" or "late."
- Herzlichen Glückwunsch nachträglich means "belated heartfelt congratulations." Pronounce the sentence as hairtz-lich("ch" as in "aH" NOT as in "CHair")-enn glook-vuhnsh nach("ch" as in "aCH" NOT as in "CHair")-traygh-lich("ch " as in "aCH" NOT as in "CHair").
- "Nachträglich alles Gute zum Geburtstag" means "belated congratulations to all the best for your birthday" Pronounce it as nach(again, as in "aH")-traygh-lich(again, as in "aH") ah-less goo -tsoom geh-buhrtz-tahg tea.
Step 4. Say "Alles das Beste zum Geburtstag
This sentence is another way of saying "all the best for your birthday."
- Alles means "all" or "everything," zum means "for," and Geburtstag means "birthday."
- Das Beste means "the best."
- Pronounce this sentence as ah-less dahss behsteh tsoom geh-buhrtz-tahg.
Method 2 of 2: Longer Birthday Wishes
Step 1. Say "Alles Liebe zum Geburtstag
This phrase means more or less "I wish you lots of love on your birthday."
- Alles means "all" or "everything." The phrase "zum Geburtstag" means "for your birthday."
- Liebe means "love" or "affection."
- This expression should be pronounced as ah-less lee-beh tsoom geh-buhrtz-tahg.
Step 2. Say "Wir wünschen Ihnen einen wunderschönen Tag
Use this expression to wish the birthday boy a very beautiful day.
- Wir means "we" in Indonesian.
- Wünschen is a German verb that means "to wish," "to wish," or "to beg."
- Ihnen is the polite form of the word "you." To make this sentence informal or casual, replace Ihnen with Dir, the informal version of "you." Pronounce Dir like deahr.
- Einen means "one" or "a."
- Wunderschönen means "beautiful," "awesome," or "good."
- The tag means "day."
- You should pronounce this sentence as veer vuhnshen ee-nen aye-nen vuhn-deher-shuhn-nen tahg.
Step 3. With hope, say "Auf dass Ihr Tag mit Liebe und Freude erfüllt ist
"This phrase roughly means, "May your birthday be filled with love and happiness."
- Auf means "on" or "on."
- Dass is a conjunction in German which means "which" in Indonesian.
- Ihr is a subtle way of saying "yours." For a more informal way of saying "yours," use Dein, which is pronounced as dain.
- The tag means "day."
- Mit means "with."
- Liebe means love or affection. The word und means "and," and Freude means "joy" or "happiness."
- The phrase erfüllt ist roughly translates to "to be filled with."
- Pronounce this whole sentence as owf dahss eer tahg mitt lee-beh oond froy-deh ehr-foolt ist.
Step 4. Say "Schade, dass wir nicht mitfeiern können" to someone when you can't celebrate in person
This sentence means "Too bad we can't be there to celebrate with you." Use this phrase over the phone, on a greeting card, or in an email when you can't express that personal birthday wish in person.
- Schade means "unfortunately" or "sadly."
- The word dass means "which" and wir means "we."
- The word nicht means "no," and können means "can."
- Mitfeiern means "to celebrate together."
- Pronounce this expression as shah-deh dahss veer neecht("ch" as in "aCH" NOT like "CHair") mitt-fy-ehrn keu-nenn.
Step 5. Ask "Wie geht's dem Geburtstagkind?
This interrogative sentence has the meaning of asking about, "how is the birthday child?"
- Wie geht's is a German interjection meaning "how are you?" in Indonesian.
- The word dem means "that."
- Geburtstagkind can mean "birthday child"
- This whole expression should be pronounced as vee gates dehm geh-buhrtz-tahg-kint.
Step 6. Also ask "Wie alt=""Image" bist du?</h4" />
This question is used to ask someone's age.
- Wie means "how much" and alt=""Image" means "old." Bist means "is."</li" />
- The word du means "you." For a more polite form of "you," use Sie, starting with "sind" instead of "bist", eg "Wie alt=""Image" sind Sie?"</li" />
- Pronounce this whole question as vee ahlt bist due (or "vee ahlt zindt zee")
