Besides English birthday wishes, we'll also focus on European languages like French and German.
We'll also cover Asian languages such as Korean and Nepali. Read on to learn the exact pronunciation of expressions and terms in different languages around the world and to discover more about birthday traditions in other cultures.
You can use English birthday wishes for practically any international friend. Everyone probably knows "Happy Birthday."
However, there are many other ways to send your friends birthday wishes in English, either in person or via WhatsApp. You can keep your English birthday wishes short or even write a long birthday card in English.
Below are some suggestions for how you can wish your English-speaking friends a happy birthday. The shorter birthday wishes in English are more suitable for sending greetings via WhatsApp or social media. The longer birthday wishes are better suited for birthday cards or letters.
| Short English Birthday Wishes | Long English Birthday Wishes |
| Happy Birthday! | May this birthday be just the beginning of a year filled with happy memories and wonderful moments. |
| Wishing you a fantastic day! | Cheers to a fabulous birthday and a year filled with blessings. Happy Birthday! |
| Have a great birthday! | Wishing you a day filled with love, laughter, and joy. Happy Birthday! |
| Sending you best wishes! | Cheers to another year of adventures, laughter, and beautiful memories. Happy Birthday! |
| Enjoy your special day! | It's your birthday! Time to celebrate and enjoy the day to the fullest. |
| Happy birthday and many happy returns! | May every moment of your birthday be as wonderful as you are. Happy Birthday! |
| Have a blast on your birthday! | Happy Birthday! May your day be as bright as the sun and as special as you are. |
| Cheers to another year! | Sending you my warmest wishes on your birthday. Have a wonderful day filled with love and happiness. |
| Wishing you joy and happiness! | |
| May all your dreams come true! |
Enjoy a relaxed seaside atmosphere while staying close to the action.
The most widely spoken languages in the world include (according to a 2022 study by Ethnologue ) some European languages such as English and Spanish , but also numerous Asian languages. Mandarin Chinese, for example, is spoken by more than one billion people, and Hindi by more than 600 million.
How do you say "Happy Birthday" in these two languages? In Chinese, you say "shēngrì kuàilè" (spelled 生日快乐), and in Hindi, "janmadin kee shubhakaamanaen" (spelled जन्मदिन की शुभकामनाएं). One of the most widely spoken languages is Arabic , with over 270 million speakers, where you can say "eid melad sa'eed" (عيد ميلاد سعيد) to congratulate someone on their birthday.
Among the languages whose writing systems differ from our familiar ones, Japanese (お誕生日おめでとう, pronounced "otanjoubi omedetou") and Korean (생일 축하 해요, pronounced "saeng-il chugha haeyo") stand out, in addition to Chinese.
Bengali is spoken in the Bengal region, in which one can write শুভ জন্মদিন and say "Śubha janmadina". In Pakistan and India, the Thai pronunciation is Dogri (सालगिरह् मबारक), and in the Maldives, Dhivehi (қққъҧқшқуқщ ққъҦ҂қѰқыҪқшҦқрқчҰ) is used. If you want to wish a Thai person a happy birthday, you should say สุขสันต์วันเกิด, which is pronounced "S̄uk̄hs̄ạnt̒ wạn keid".
In European countries, birthday customs don't differ greatly. The candles on the birthday cake are blown out, cakes and tarts are served, and birthday songs are sung. But is it the same on other continents?
Every country has its own traditions and its own way of celebrating, and in some cases, even the way people think about birthdays can change. Traditional food also differs from country to country. In Australia, for example, they eat fairy bread, in Brazil brigadeiros, and in China, special noodles called yī miàn.
In Japan, the birthdays of 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds are particularly important compared to other countries and are celebrated on November 15th in religious temples. In the Caribbean, celebrants are often covered head to toe in flour, and in Nepal, yogurt is smeared on the birthday child's forehead.
In Mexico, children must break a piñata while blindfolded to get sweets. In China, a child's first year is celebrated with a large party where friends and relatives bring items to present to the child.
As you can see, birthday customs vary around the world. That's precisely why it's so exciting to travel to a foreign country and experience its birthday traditions.
Would you like to travel to a foreign country and experience its culture? Then a language course abroad is just right for you!
| Language | Birthday Greetings | Language | Birthday Greetings |
| Afrikaans | happy birthday | Lao | ສຸກສັນວັນເກີດ |
| Albanian | Gëzuar ditëlindjen | Lettone | daudz laimes dzimšanas dienā |
| Amharic | መልካም ልደት | Lingala | mbotama elamu |
| Arabic | عيد ميلاد سعيد | Lithuanian | su gimtadieniu |
| Armenian | Ծնունդդ շնորհավոր | Luganda | amazaalibwa amalungi |
| Assamese | জন্মদিনৰ ওলগ জনালোঁ | Luxembourgish | All good things for your birthday |
| Aymara | aski mara phuqhawi | Macedonian | среќен роден |
| Azeri | Ad günün mübarək | Maithili | जन्मदिनक शुभकामना |
| Bambara | sanbε sanbε | Malayalam | ജന്മദിനാശംസകൾ |
| Basque | Zorionak | Malay | selamat Hari lahir |
| Bengali | শুভ জন্মদিন | Malgascio | tratry ny tsingerintaona nahaterahana |
| Bhojpuri | जन्म दिन के शुभ कामना | Maltese | għeluq sninu |
| Belarusian | З Днём Нараджэння | Māori | Hari Huritau |
| Burmese | ပျော်ရွင်ဖွယ်ရာမွေးနေ့ | Marathi | वाढदिवसाच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा |
| Bosnian | sretan rođendan | Mizo | piancham Chibai |
| Bulgarian | Честит Рожден ден | Mongolian | Төрсөн өдрийн мээнд |
| Catalan | feliç aniversari | Nepalese | जन्मदिनको शुभकामना |
| Czech | Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám | Norwegian | Congratulations on your visit |
| Chichewa | tsiku labwino lobadwa | Odia (oriya) | ଜନ୍ମଦିନର ଅଭିନନ୍ଦନ |
| Kyrgyz | туулган күнүң менен | Dutch | van harte gefeliciteerd |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 生日快乐 | Oromo | baga guyyaa dhaloota kee geesse |
| Traditional Chinese | 生日快樂 | Pashto | کلیزه دی نیکمرغه |
| Korean | 생일 축하 해요 | Persian | تولدت مبارک |
| Course | happy anniversary | Polish | Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin |
| Haitian Creole | bòn fèt | Portuguese | happy anniversary |
| Croatian | sretan rođendan | Punjabi | ਜਨਮਦਿਨ ਮੁਬਾਰਕ |
| Kurdish (Kurmanji) | rojbûna te pîroz be | Quechua | punchawniykipi kusikuni |
| Kurdish (Sorani) | یادی لەدایک بوونت پیرۆز بێت | Romanian | La multi Ani |
| Danish | Tillykke med fødselsdagen | Russian | С днем рождения |
| Dhivehi | mber 10, 2021 | Samoan | manuia asofanau |
| Dogri | सालगिरह् मबारक | Sanskrit | शुभं जन्मदिनम् |
| Hebrew | יום הולדת שמח | Sepedi | matswalo a mabotse |
| Esperanto | Feliĉan naskiĝtagon | Serbian | срећан рођендан |
| Estonian | palju õnne sünnipäevaks | Sesotho | letsatsi lemonate la tsoalo |
| Ewe | dzigbe zã nyuie na wò | Shona | bhavhadhe rinofadza |
| Filipino | Maligayang kaarawan | Sindhi | جنم ڏينهن مبارڪ |
| Finnish | hyvää syntymäpäivää | Sinhalese | සුබ උපන් දිනයක් |
| French | Happy birthday | Slovak | šťastné narodeniny |
| Frisian | curvy jierdei | Slovenian | vse najboljše |
| Scottish Gaelic | cola | Breith Math | Somalo-dhalasho Wacan |
| Galician | happy anniversary | Spanish | happy cumpleaños |
| Welsh | penblwydd hapus | Sundanese | Wilujeung tepang taun |
| Georgian | გილოცავ დაბადების დღეს | Swedish | Grattis på födelsedagen |
| Japanese | お誕生日おめでとう | Swahili | furaha ya kuzaliwa |
| Javanese | Sugeng tanggap warsa | Daily | зодрӯз муборак |
| Greek | χαρούμενα γενέθλια | Tamil | பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள் |
| Guarani | vy'apavẽ | Tataro | Туган көн белән |
| Gujarati | જન્મદિવસ ની શુભકામના | German | Happy Birthday |
| Hausa | barka da ranar haihuwa | Telugu | పుట్టినరోజు శుభాకాంక్షలు |
| Hawaiian | hauʻoli lā hānau | Thai | สุขสันต์วันเกิด |
| Hindi | जन्मदिन की शुभकामनाएं | Tigrinya | እንኳዕ ተወለድካ |
| Hmong | zoo siab hnub yug | Tsonga | siku lerinene ro velekiwa |
| Igbo | ezi ncheta ọmụmụ | Turkish | doğum günün kutlu olsun |
| Ilocano | naragsak a panagkasangay | Turkmen | Doglan günüň bilen |
| Indonesian | Selamat ulang tahun | Ukrainian | З Днем Народження |
| English | Happy Birthday | Uyghur | تۇغۇلغان كۈنىڭىزگە مۇبارەك |
| Irish | la breithe shona duit | Hungarian | boldog születésnapot |
| Icelandic | til hamingju með afmælið | Urdu | سالگرہ مبارک |
| Italian | Buon compleanno | Uzbeco | Tug'ilgan kuning bilan |
| Canada | ಬೂನ್ ಕಂಪ್ಲೀನ್ನೊ | Vietnamese | chúc mừng sinh nhật |
| Kazakh | бұл толық емес | Xhosa | ndikunqwenelela usuku lokuzalwa |
| Khmer | រីករាយថ្ងៃកំណើត | Yiddish | אַ גליקלעכן געבורסטאָג |
| Kinyarwanda | Isabukuru nziza | Yoruba | o ku ojo ibi |
| Konkani | जल्मदिसाची परबी | Zulu | Usuku olumnandi lokuzalwa |
| Krio | API batde |
