Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Holiday Greetings
• Method 2 of 3: Talking about birthdays
• Method 3 of 3: Greetings Song

The most obvious way to say “happy birthday” in Italian is to say “buon compleanno”. However, there are actually several common expressions to express your wishes. You may also want to check out other birthday phrases, as well as the Italian version of the birthday song.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Holiday Greetings

1. 1 Exclaim "buon compleanno!". This is the most explicit way to say" happy birthday "in Italian. The expression literally translates to" good birthday. "
   • Buon means "good" and compleanno - "birthday
   • The whole phrase is pronounced like: buon com-ple-a-nyo
2. 2 Wish "tanti auguri!". This expression does not translate to" happy birthday. "In fact, the Italian word for" birthday "(compleanno) does not appear at all in this phrase. Nevertheless, this expression, meaning "best wishes", is a popular way in Italy to express your favor to a person who has a birthday.
   • Tanti means "a lot", and auguri plural of a noun augurio, "wish". The phrase literally translates as "many wishes."
   • Pronounced as: tan-ti au-gu-ri
3. 3 Try "cento di questi giorni!". This is another Italian expression that you can use to congratulate a person without specifically mentioning a birthday. In fact, you wish a boy or girl 100 happy birthdays or just a long life.
   • Cento means "one hundred", di indicates the genitive case (like "of" in English), questi translates as "these", and giorni - "days". Literally it sounds like "One hundred such days!"
   • Pronounced as: fien-to-di kue-sti gi-or-ni
   • Note that the phrase can also be abbreviated to "cent'anni" or "one hundred years!"
     • This variation is pronounced as: fien-ta-ni

Method 2 of 3: Talking about birthdays

1. 1 Address your wishes to "festeggiato". The use of this Italian term would be equivalent to the name "birthday boy" or "birthday girl". Literally translated - "celebrating".
   • Word festeggiato comes from the verb "celebrate" (festeggiare).
   • Pronounced as: fe-ste-gia something
2. 2 Ask the person about their age: "quanti anni hai?" This is an evasive way of figuring out how old he or she is. The question does not translate specifically to "how old are you?" Rather, it is a polite curiosity about a guy or a girl: "how old are you?"
   • Quanti means "how much" anni - "years", and hai - this is the verb "to have" in the second person, singular form (similar to the English verb "have").
   • Pronounced as: quan-ti a-not ah
3. 3 Describe old age with the phrase "essere avanti con gli anni". By and large, this means that someone is "in years".You can use this as a compliment, emphasizing that the person is not only getting older, but also wiser.
   • Essere means "to be" avanti - "ahead", con - "with", gli Is a gated article (as in English "the"), and anni translates as "year". All together it translates as "going forward with the years" or, more literally, "being in old age."
   • Pronounced as: es-se-re a-wan-ti kon gli an-ni
4. 4 Announce your own birthday with the phrase "oggi compio gli anni". Roughly speaking, you say "today is my birthday", but in a more accurate translation it means "today I have completed my years."
   • Oggi means "today" compio Is the form of the verb "complete" (compiere) in the first person singular, gli Is the definite article (as in English "the"), and anni translates as "year".
   • Pronounced as: o-ji com-pio gli an-ni
5. 5 State your age using the expression "sto per compiere ___ anni". Usually this phrase is used to say that you have turned a certain number of years (fill in the blank), but it is more popular with young people than older generations. This translates almost literally as "I am (number) years old."
   • To name your age, just fill in the blank in the phrase. For example, if you are turning 18, say "Sto per compiere diciotto anni".
   • Sto means "me" per - "To", compiere - "to be fulfilled" or "to complete", and anni - "years old".
   • Pronounced as: one hundred lane com-pi-er ____ an-ni

Method 3 of 3: Greetings Song

1. 1 Use a familiar melody. Despite the different words, the Italian version of the song "happy birthday" sounds like the English version of "happy birthday".
2. 2 Chant "tanti auguri" several times. The most common words for the song "happy birthday" do not mention the birthday at all. Instead, the phrase "best wishes" is used instead of the words "happy birthday" in the original sound.
   • Add "a te" (and you) meaning "you / you".
   • The lyrics are as follows:
     • Tanti auguri a te,
     • Tanti auguri a te,
     • Tanti auguri a (NAME),
     • Tanti auguri a te!
3. 3 Try replacing it with "buon compleanno". And although this is not often used, in fact you can go and put a specific "happy birthday" as in the standard, English version.
   • And as in the version with the phrase "tanti auguri" you need to add "a te" (and you) meaning "you / you".
   • In this variant, the words are as follows:
     • Buon compleanno a te,
     • Buon compleanno a te,
     • Buon compleanno a (NAME),
     • Buon compleanno a te!