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Joyous French Expression
| Meaning | Happy birthday! | |
| Literally | Joyous birthday! | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[zhwa yeu zah ni vehr sehr] |
| IPA | [[ʒwa jø za ni vɛʀ sɛʀ] | |
| (note the required liaison between the two words) | ||
Usage notes: How do you say "happy birthday" in French? Joyeux anniversaire !
Par exemple…
| Joyeux anniversaire ! | Happy birthday! | |
| Je te souhaite un très joyeux anniversaire. | I wish you a very happy birthday. |
Birthday song
The French birthday song is sung to the same tune as its English counterpart:
Joyeux anniversaire !
Joyeux anniversaire !
Joyeux an – ni – ver – sai – re !*
Joyeux anniversaire !
* If you like, you can quickly sing the birthday person’s name here.
Informally, you can apocope joyeux anniversaire to joyeux anniv.
Synonyms and related expressions
Related features
- Age and Birthdays
- Celebratory expressions
- Dates
- Gifts for French lovers
- Numbers
- Te and other indirect object adjectives
- Zodiac signs
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