Video:Learn Japanese: How to Say "Happy Birthday"
with Dai IshiguroIt's going to really impress your Japanese friends when you can wish them a happy birthday in their native language. This About.com video will show you how to say "Happy Birthday" in Japanese.See Transcript
Transcript:Learn Japanese: How to Say "Happy Birthday"
Hello, my name is Dai Ishiguro for About.com. Today, I'm going to teach you how to say, "Happy Birthday."
How to Say "Happy Birthday" in Japanese
"Happy Birthday," in Japanese, we say, "O ta n jo u bi O me de to u." "Otanjoubi Omedetou." "Otanjoubi Omedetou." This is very casual.
If you want to be formal, you can add "Gozaimasu" at the end. So it's going to be "O ta n jo u bi O me de to u Go za i ma su." You can say to your professor or your boss, you can say, "Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu." To your friends you can say, "Otanjoubi Omedetou" the casual way.
How to Write "Happy Birthday" in Japanese
Now I'm going to write "Happy Birthday" in Japanese. "Otanjoubi Omedetou." "Otanjoubi" means "birthday." "O ta n jo u bi." "Otanjoubi" means "birthday." "Omedetou" means "congratulations." So we say "Birthday Congratulations." That's the way we say. "Otanjoubi Omedetou." "O me de to u." "Birthday congratulations."
And if you want to be more polite, you can add "Gozaimasu." "Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu." "Happy Birthday, sir." "Go za i ma su." Formal way, "Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu." Got it?
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