Learn Spanish (Spain): ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Ana!

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Ana!

Happy birthday, Ana!

Breakdown of ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Ana!

el cumpleaños

the birthday

feliz

happy (also in wishes)

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Questions & Answers about ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Ana!

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

The word cumpleaños is a compound word made from the verb cumple (completes or turns) and the plural noun años (years). Because it literally means "completes years", it always ends in an "s", even when you are talking about a single birthday.

Does feliz change if we want to talk about multiple birthdays?

Yes! Because cumpleaños is the exact same word in both singular and plural, the adjective changes to show the difference. To say "happy birthdays", you must change feliz to its plural form and say felices cumpleaños.

How do we use this word to say that someone is turning a certain age?

To say someone is having a birthday or turning a certain age, you break the noun apart and use the verb cumplir with años. For example, to say "Ana turns twenty today", you would say Ana cumple veinte años hoy.