Breakdown of Van harte gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!
de verjaardag
the birthday
van harte gefeliciteerd
congratulations
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Questions & Answers about Van harte gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!
What does van harte literally mean?
It literally means "from heart". The phrase is used to mean "warmly" or "sincerely". While you can just say gefeliciteerd (congratulations), adding van harte makes it more enthusiastic, like "warmest congratulations" or "a very happy birthday".
Why does the word for "congratulations" (gefeliciteerd) look like a past-tense verb?
That is because it is! Gefeliciteerd is the past participle of the verb feliciteren (to congratulate). While English uses a plural noun ("congratulations"), Dutch essentially says "(you are) congratulated!".
Why do we use met here instead of a word for "on"?
In Dutch, the verb feliciteren (and its forms) is always paired with the preposition met (with). So instead of saying "congratulations on your birthday", you are literally saying "congratulated with your birthday".