Question 1

Why does cumpleaños end in an 's' if it's just one birthday?

Accepted Answer

Cumpleaños is a compound word made from cumple (completes/turns) and años (years). Because it literally means "completing years," it always ends in -s, even when you are talking about just one single birthday.

Question 2

Why do we say Felicidades instead of Feliz cumpleaños here?

Accepted Answer

Both are perfectly fine! Feliz cumpleaños directly translates to "Happy birthday." However, Felicidades translates to "Congratulations" and is a very common and natural way to wish someone well on their special day in Spanish.

Question 3

Why does the first sentence use es instead of está for "it is"?

Accepted Answer

We use es (from the verb ser) because a birthday is an event. In Spanish, when you are talking about what an event is, or when and where it takes place, you always use ser, not estar.

Question 4

How would I add the date to say when my birthday is?

Accepted Answer

You can use the date format you are learning in this lesson! You would just say Mi cumpleaños es el followed by the number, the word de, and the month. For example: Mi cumpleaños es el cinco de mayo (My birthday is May 5th).

Question 5

What are the long dashes (—) at the beginning of the sentences?

Accepted Answer

Those are dialogue dashes. In Spanish writing, a long dash is used to show that someone is speaking out loud, much like quotation marks in English. The two dashes here show a quick back-and-forth conversation between two people.

—Es mi cumpleaños. —¡Felicidades!

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