Celebrate a Birthday in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to celebrate a birthday in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• say how old you are

• wish someone a happy birthday

• offer or receive a gift

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

Spanish	English
año	year
chocolate	chocolate
pastel	cake
regalo	present, gift

What's Your Flavor?

In Spanish, you can use the word de plus any noun to say what flavor something is.

examples
Es un pastel de chocolate. It's a chocolate cake.

Numbers

Here are three new numbers you learn in these lessons!

Spanish	English
dieciocho	eighteen
diecinueve	nineteen
veinte	twenty

examples
Tengo dieciocho años. I'm eighteen years old.
Tiene diecinueve años. He's nineteen years old.
Tienen veinte años. They're twenty years old.

Adjectives

Here are the festive adjectives you learn in these lessons!

Spanish	English
bonito	beautiful, pretty, nice
dulce	sweet
generoso	generous
rico	delicious

examples
El regalo es bonito. The present is beautiful.
Eres muy generosa. You're very generous.
Es un pastel dulce. It's a sweet cake.
El pastel está rico. The cake is delicious.

Ser vs. Estar

You can use ser in the following formula to describe food:

ser + un/una + food word + adjective

examples
Es un pastel dulce. It's a sweet cake.

You can use estar in the following formula to describe food:

el/la/los/las + food word + estar + adjective

examples
El pastel está rico. The cake is delicious.

Adverbs

You learn these adverbs of order in these lessons.

Spanish	English
después	after
luego	then
primero	first

examples
Primero, comemos pastel. First, we eat cake.
Después, abrimos los regalos. After, we open presents.
Luego, bailamos. Later, we dance.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the verbs abrir(to open) and celebrar(to celebrate).

Abrir

Abriris a regular -ir verb.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	abro	I open
tú	abres	you open	informal singular you
vos	abrís	you open	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	abre	he, she opens
usted	abre	you open	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	abrimos	we open
vosotros, vosotras	abrís	you open	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	abren	they open
ustedes	abren	you open	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

examples
¿Abro tu regalo? Do I open your present?
Abrimos los regalos. We open the presents.

Celebrar

Celebraris a regular -ar verb.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	celebro	I celebrate
tú	celebras	you celebrate	informal singular you
vos	celebrás	you celebrate	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	celebra	he, she celebrates
usted	celebra	you celebrate	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	celebramos	we celebrate
vosotros, vosotras	celebráis	you celebrate	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	celebran	they celebrate
ustedes	celebran	you celebrate	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

examples
¿Cómo celebras tu cumpleaños? How do you celebrate your birthday?
Celebro con mi familia. I celebrate with my family.

Tener and Age

In these lessons, you learned that you use the verb tener(to have) to say how old you are in Spanish! Let's review the conjugations of tener.

Tener Conjugations

Teneris a stem-changing verb with an irregular yo form.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tengo	I have
tú	tienes	you have	informal singular you
vos	tenés	you have	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tiene	he, she has
usted	tiene	you have	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tenemos	we have
vosotros, vosotras	tenéis	you have	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tienen	they have
ustedes	tienen	you have	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

examples
¿Cuántos años tienes? - Tengo dieciocho años. How old are you? - I'm eighteen years old.
¿Cuántos años tiene? - Tiene diecinueve años. How old is he? - He's nineteen years old.
¿Cuántos años tienen? - Tienen veinte años. How old are they? - They're twenty years old.

Fluency Tip

Remember, use tener, not ser or estar (to be) to give your age in Spanish!

Soy dieciocho años.

Estoy dieciocho años.

Tengo dieciocho años.(I'm eighteen years old.)

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
¿Cuántos años tienes?	How old are you?
De nada.	You're welcome.
¡Feliz cumpleaños!	Happy birthday!
¡Felicidades!	Congratulations!
para ti	for you

examples
Tengo un regalo para ti. I have a present for you.
Gracias. - De nada. Thank you. - You're welcome.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Laura:

¡Feliz cumpleaños! ¿Cuántos años tienes?

Happy birthday! How old are you?

Marco:

Tengo dieciocho años.

I'm eighteen years old.

Laura:

¿Tienes dieciocho años? ¡Felicidades! Tengo un regalo para ti.

You're eighteen years old? Congratulations! I have a present for you.

Marco:

Eres muy generosa. ¿Abro tu regalo?

You're very generous. Do I open your present?

Laura:

Sí. ¡Es un pastel de chocolate!

Yes. It's a chocolate cake!

Marco:

Es un regalo muy rico. ¡Gracias!

It's a very delicious gift. Thank you!

Laura:

¡De nada!

You're welcome!

Want to learn more about how to talk about birthdays and ser and estar in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• How to Say "Happy Birthday" in Spanish

• Quick Tips for Understanding "Ser" and "Estar"

• Tricky Verb Pairs in Spanish