Russian Classes: 3 ways to say 'Happy birthday!'

Pavel Kuxmichev; Annie Otzen; Rizky R Z/500px; skynesher/Getty Images

Привет!

’Happy birthday’ in Russian is ’С днём рождения!’. We sometimes add the word ‘поздравляю’ to signify the act of ‘wishing’ — with the word literally meaning ‘to congratulate’.
I personally love the funny version ’C днём варенья!’ (’Happy jam day’) The pun owes its existence to the similarity in the sound of ‘рожденья' and 'варенья’.

In order to state your birthday wishes for the lucky person, use the verb ‘желать’ + the genitive case.

• Желаю тебе всего самого наилучшего!
• I wish you all the best!

In order to demonstrate the depth of your feelings, use the phrases ‘от всей души’ or ‘от всего сердца’ right before the verbs ‘поздравлять’ or ‘желать’.

Here are some other popular wishes yo can use:

• Пусть улыбка всегда будет на твоем лице!
• Let the smile never leave your face!

• Будь счастлив!
• Be happy!

• Материального благополучия!
• (I wish you) financial prosperity!

And so on, and so on..

Check out more lessons in our Telegram channel, using the tag #russianclasses!

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