Breakdown of Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!
met
with
de verjaardag
the birthday
gefeliciteerd
congratulations
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Questions & Answers about Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!
Why do we say met instead of a Dutch word for "on"?
In English you congratulate someone 'on' an occasion, but the fixed phrase in Dutch uses met (with). You are literally saying "Congratulated with your birthday!"
Why does gefeliciteerd look like a past tense verb?
It is the past participle of the verb feliciteren (to congratulate). While English uses the plural noun "congratulations", Dutch uses this past participle form, essentially saying you are "congratulated".
Why use je instead of jouw for "your"?
je is the unstressed form of the possessive pronoun jouw. In common, everyday greetings like this, you almost always use the short, unstressed je unless you specifically need to emphasize that it is your birthday and not someone else's.
How is the word verjaardag (birthday) built?
It is a compound word made of the prefix ver-, plus jaar (year) and dag (day). The prefix ver- often indicates a change or passing of time, so a verjaardag is the day marking the passing of another year for you.