How to Say Happy Birthday in Vietnamese

Today in this post, we’ll talk about how to say Happy Birthday in Vietnamese.

There are several ways to say Happy Birthday to someone in Vietnamese. But before we go over different ways to say it, let’s briefly go over what happy birthday means in Vietnamese.

What does Happy Birthday mean in Vietnamese?

Happy is vui vẻ in Vietnamese. Birthday means sinh nhật. Together, happy birthday means sinh nhật vui vẻ in Vietnamese.

How to say Happy Birthday in Vietnamese?

Wait, hold on. Isn’t Happy Birthday just sinh nhật vui vẻ, since it literally means sinh nhật vui vẻ?

Well, yes. You definitely can say sinh nhật vui vẻ. But in Vietnamese, we usually don’t just say sinh nhật vui vẻ. We often add a few words to it.

Add ending word

For example:

Sinh nhật vui vẻ nha!

Happy birthday!

This is a cutesy, informal way to say happy birthday. The word nha doesn’t really have any meaning here. It is just an ending word to sound cuter. You can also use different word here, like “nhé,” etc. The sentence can be used for friends or people who are close to your age, brothers, or sisters.

Use chúc

Or in a more formal way and often to show respect in conversation, you can say:

Chúc mẹ sinh nhật vui vẻ

Wish you (mom) a happy birthday.

This sentence follows the same structure as the New Year wishes that we have previously discussed.

chúc + [you] + sinh nhật vui vẻ

You then can replace [you] part with the word you use to address the other person.

Sometimes, if you don’t know how to address the other person, you can also just call them by name.

For example, if someone is around your age but you don’t know or don’t want to address them as anh, chị, em, or cậu, etc., you can address them by name.

chúc + [name] + sinh nhật vui vẻ

Examples:

Chúc Mai sinh nhật vui vẻ

Chúc John sinh nhật vui vẻ.

Use chúc mừng

Another way to say happy birthday in Vietnamese is chúc mừng sinh nhật. This is an even more formal way to say happy birthday.

Chúc mừng is often a word used to congratulate somebody. It often means congratulations or congratulate.

For example:

Chúc mừng anh được thăng chức.

Congratulations on your promotion.

The word chúc mừng in the example above can be translated as congratulations in English. But the literal translation of the whole sentence is “congratulate you being promoted.”

Let’s look at another example:

Con chúc mừng sinh nhật anh hai chưa?

Did you wish your older brother a happy birthday?

The literal translation of the sentence in the above example is “you congratulate happy birthday eldest brother yet?”

“Chúc mừng sinh nhật” is a formal way to say happy birthday or to congratulate someone on their birthday, often seen in writing (banner, greeting cards, etc.). But it can sometimes be used in conversation when you address the other person to make it sound more personal.

Chúc mừng sinh nhật [you]

For example:

Chúc mừng sinh nhật anh. (“happy birthday” said to older male)

Chúc mừng sinh nhật em. (“happy birthday” said to someone younger)

Exercise

1. Say happy birthday to your girlfriend.
2. Say happy birthday to your boss.

Answers:

1. Say happy birthday to your girlfriend.
   • Sinh nhật vui vẻ nha em.
   • Chúc em sinh nhật vui vẻ.
   • Chúc mừng sinh nhật em.
2. Say happy birthday to your boss.
   • Sinh nhật vui vẻ nha sếp (if you’re close to your boss).
   • Chúc sếp sinh nhật vui vẻ.
   • Chúc mừng sinh nhật sếp.

In the second exercise, you can also replace sếp (boss) with other words like anh or chị depending on the situation or what the other person prefers.