Japanese dictionary
How to say "birthday" in Japanese
誕生日たんじょうび · tanjōbi
"Birthday" in Japanese is 誕生日 (tanjōbi). "Happy birthday" is お誕生日おめでとうございます (o-tanjōbi omedetō gozaimasu).
▶ plays native audio. Audio on this site plays when you are logged in to your free japanese.ccn.jp account (the same account as Japanese Talk by CCN).
Ways to say "birthday" in Japanese
| Japanese | When to use it |
|---|---|
| 誕生日たんじょうび · tanjōbi | Birthday. |
| お誕生日おたんじょうび · o-tanjōbi | Birthday. Polite, for someone else's. |
How to use it
With friends, a shorter 誕生日おめでとう (tanjōbi omedetō) is fine.
To ask when someone's birthday is, say 誕生日はいつですか (tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka).
Example sentences
- お誕生日おめでとうございます。O-tanjōbi omedetō gozaimasu.Happy birthday.
- 誕生日はいつですか。Tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka.When is your birthday?
- 私の誕生日は五月十日です。Watashi no tanjōbi wa gogatsu tōka desu.My birthday is May 10.
- 同僚の誕生日にケーキを買いました。Dōryō no tanjōbi ni kēki o kaimashita.I bought a cake for a coworker's birthday.
- 娘の誕生日パーティーを開きました。Musume no tanjōbi pātī o hirakimashita.We held a birthday party for my daughter.
- 申込書に生年月日を書いてください。Mōshikomisho ni seinengappi o kaite kudasai.Please write your date of birth on the application.
Kanji in this word
Questions
How do you say "Happy birthday" in Japanese?
Say お誕生日おめでとうございます (o-tanjōbi omedetō gozaimasu). To friends, 誕生日おめでとう (tanjōbi omedetō) is enough.
What is 生年月日?
生年月日 (seinengappi) is date of birth. You will see it on forms and ID cards.
Using Japanese at work?
See Executive JapaneseExecutive Japanese by CCN is one-on-one online Japanese for managers and directors doing business in Japan.