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How To Say ‘Happy Birthday’ In Cantonese

Want to know how to say ‘happy birthday’ in Cantonese? You’re in the right place. 

It’s always nice to wish someone a happy birthday on their special day but why not do it in a language that means something to them.

As well as wishing your loved one a happy birthday in Cantonese, why not also sing the Cantonese version of the happy birthday song! 

Pronunciation Note:

  • In this guide I have included both the Cantonese characters and the pronunciation of these characters (for anyone that can’t read Cantonese). The pronunciation is written using the Jyutping system.
  • If you’re not familiar with this system please check out this guide which covers the letter sounds.
  • The number after each word represents the tone of the word (Cantonese has several different tones which are important as they can change the word meaning). If you’re unsure about Cantonese tones, check out this guide.
  • This Jyutping chart is also a great resource to help you with pronunciation of Cantonese.

How To Say ‘Happy Birthday’ In Cantonese

To wish someone a happy birthday in Cantonese, you can say:

EnglishCantoneseJyutping
Happy birthday生日快樂saang1 jat6 faai3 lok6

To hear the pronunciation of ‘happy birthday’ in Cantonese, check out the video below:

Cantonese Birthday Wishes & Phrases

Alternatively, you can also use some of these phrases including how to say ‘congratulations’ in Cantonese:

EnglishCantoneseJyutping
Best wishes祝福zuk1 fuk1
Happy b-day
(more informal)
牛一快樂ngau4 jat1 faai3 lok6
Congratulations恭喜恭喜gung1 hei2
I wish you a happy
birthday, and that all
your wishes come true
祝你生日快樂,
心想事成
zuk1 nei5 saang1 jat6
faai3 lok6, sam1
soeng2 si6 sing4

Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of ‘congratulations’ in Cantonese:

How To Sing Happy Birthday In Cantonese

If you want to go the extra mile for your loved one or friend, try singing the happy birthday song in Cantonese. The Cantonese song is different to the usual happy birthday song and is called ‘Wishing You Longevity’. 

Check out the video below to hear the traditional Cantonese birthday song. I’ve listed the lyrics below so you can sing along.

Here’s the lyrics so you can sing along:

“恭祝你福壽與天齊
慶賀你生辰快樂 
年年都有今日
歲歲都有今朝
恭喜你
恭喜你”

The lyrics in Jyutping are:

“gung1 zuk1 nei5 fuk1 sau6 jyu5 tin1 cai4
hing3 ho6 nei5 saang1 san4 faai3 lok6
nin4 nin4 dou1 jau5 gam1 jat6
seoi3 seoi3 dou1 jau5 gam1 ziu1
gung1 hei2 nei5
gung1 hei2 nei5”

This translates to:

“Wishing you happiness and longevity,
Congratulations on your birthday,
Every year there is this day,
Every year there is this morning,
Congratulations! 
Congratulations!”

Birthday Vocabulary In Cantonese

I’ve listed some handy Cantonese birthday vocabulary below. These should come in handy if you’re celebrating a birthday!

EnglishCantoneseJyutping
Birthday生日saang1 jat6
Partydong2
Cake蛋糕daan6 gou1
Candle蠟燭laap6 zuk1
Present/gift禮物lai5 mat6
Birthday card生日賀卡saang1 jat6 ho6 kaat1
Surprise驚喜ging1 hei2

Cantonese Birthday Traditions

Birthday traditions can be very important to many people on their birthdays. To make your loved one feel extra special you can also try some of these Cantonese birthday traditions.

Longevity Noodles

  • At a Cantonese birthday party it is traditional for the birthday girl or birthday boy to eat longevity noodles. These signify a long life.
  • The longevity noodle should be an unbroken noodle and should fill an entire bowl. It’s important that the birthday boy/girl eats the noodle in one continuous strand. They must be careful not to bite it.

Birthday Bun

  • In Cantonese culture, a common birthday gift is a birthday bun or shou bao. This steamed bun is filled with a lotus seed filling and is made into the shape of a peach.
  • This birthday bun is given as a gift as a wish for many more birthdays in the future. The peach is a symbol of a long life.

1st Birthday Party

  • Whilst in most Western countries, 1 year after a child is born is their 1st birthday. In Chinese culture, however, a child is considered 1 year old on the day he is born.
  • This means that at their 1st birthday party they will turn 2 years old. 
  • There is a fun game that is usually played at a child’s 1st birthday party.
  • The parents will surround the child with items that symbolise different career and life paths e.g. calculator, pen, toy plane, money etc. Whichever item the child chooses is said to signify what he or she will do later in life.
  • For example, a child that reaches for the calculator may be an accountant or the child who reaches for the toy plane may be a pilot or may be destined to travel.

Unlucky Birthdays

  • In Chinese culture, some birthdays are considered unlucky so are not celebrated. For women, the 30th, 33rd and 66th birthdays are seen as very unlucky. 
  • The 30th year is considered a year of danger so celebrations are avoided.
  • The 33rd year is also unlucky. You can try to counteract the bad luck by buying a piece of meat and chopping it 33 times to scare away the evil spirits. A similar thing occurs on the 66th birthday.
  • Similarly for men, the 40th birthday is considered unlucky and is avoided.

Thanks for reading this post on how to say ‘happy birthday’ in Cantonese. 

It’s a great idea to make the effort to learn how to say this in someone’s native language or a language that means something to them.

Your loved one or friend will be so impressed!

If you found this post useful, you may also want to learn how to say I love you in Cantonese.

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