In this lesson you’ll learn how to say happy birthday in French: Bon anniversaire. Actually, there are several other expressions which you can use, including bonne fête! Keep reading, listen to the audio and repeat!
bon anniversaire
happy birthday
Bon Anniversaire – Happy birthday in French
1. Bon anniversaire (not bonne anniversaire)
Bon anniversaire is one of the most standard ways to say happy birthday in French. You’ll find this written on birthday cards, balloons, and French birthday cakes.
Despite this, bon anniversaire is actually a very misspelled phrase. One French study found that 13% of birthday cards contain “bon anniversaire” spelled incorrectly.
It is usually misspelled as bonne anniversaire. So make sure you keep “bon” in its masculine form and write bon anniversaire.
2. Joyeux anniversaire (en retard)
Similar to bon anniversaire, joyeux anniversaire is another common way French people say happy birthday. While bon anniversaire means “good birthday,” joyeux anniversaire means “joyful birthday” or “happy birthday.”
joyeux anniversaire
happy (joyous) birthday
But what’s the deal with the en retard at the end? Well, that’s what you would add if you’d like to wish someone a belated birthday.
Joyeux anniversaire en retard and bon anniversaire en retard both mean happy belated birthday. En retard literally translates to “late.”
This is another one of those French expressions that French learners and speakers alike will misspell. This is because of a French pronunciation rule called liaison.
Basically, liaison makes it so that if a word ends with a consonant and the next word starts with a vowel, you’ll connect the two sounds together. Because of this, joyeux anniversaire is pronounced more like joyeuz anniversaire.
So if it sounds like a French speaker is saying “joyeuse anniversaire,” they’re just practicing liaison.
3. Meilleurs vœux
Meilleurs vœux means best wishes and is a great French phrase to add to a birthday card. But, it’s definitely not the most common way to wish someone a happy birthday.
meilleurs vœux
best wishes
This phrase is usually reserved for the new year or around Christmas time.
4. Passez une merveilleuse journée
While this phrase can be used in a few different ways, you can also use it on a birthday card. Passez une merveilleuse journée means “have a wonderful day.”
Passez une merveilleuse journée.
Have a wonderful day.
And since you’ll want to wish your new French friend a happy birthday and a wonderful day, this is a good phrase to have in your toolbelt.
5. Pour ton anniversaire
Pour ton anniversaire means “for your birthday.” It’s a French expression that you will likely use to explain what birthday gift you got for someone’s birthday.
Pour ton anniversaire
for your birthday
For example, you might say, “Pour ton anniversaire, je t’achetais des fleurs.” This means “For your birthday, I bought you flowers.”
6. Merveilleux anniversaire
If you’re searching for another birthday greeting, merveilleux anniversaire is a more unique way to say happy birthday. It means “wonderful birthday.”
merveilleux anniversaire
merveilleux anniversaire
7. Je vous souhaite plein de bonheur en cette journée spéciale.
When writing a card for someone’s special day, this French phrase is a wonderful choice. Je vous souhaite plein de bonheur en cette journée spéciale means “I wish you lots of happiness on this special day.”
Je vous souhaite plein de bonheur en cette journée spéciale.
I wish you lots of happiness on this special day.
French Canadian
For the most part, French birthday expressions are pretty similar between France and Canada. But there is one pretty big difference between how they say happy birthday.
Instead of saying joyeux anniversaire, the French Canadians say bonne fête. In France, if you’re wishing someone bonne fête, you’re wishing them a happy name day.
bonne fête
happy bithday
Language specialists aren’t totally sure why happy birthday is translated differently in the two countries.
But, it might be because of the influence of the Catholic religion on Canadian culture. Traditionally, Catholics would celebrate a person on their name day, or the day of the year dedicated to the saint or religious figure they are named after, rather than their birthday.
But either way, it’s important not to mess up the two ways of saying happy birthday in French!
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