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Dutch Birthday

The Songs We Sing		Wedding Congratulations

feliciteren

2 3 to congratulate
Hartelijk gefeliciteerd!

Van harte gefeliciteerd

2
Van harte!

2 ('heartfelt') Congratulations! Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!

Happy birthday! (informal) Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met Uw verjaardag!

Happy Birthday! (formal) Nog vele jaren!

Many happy returns Nog vele jaren in goede gezondheid

Many happy returns in good health Een prettige dag gewenst

Wishing you an enjoyable day Alsnog gefeliciteerd!

2 3 Belated congratulations!

Hartelijk dank voor de goede wensen 2 Many thanks for the good wishes

Wanneer ben je jarig? When is your birthday? Wanneer is hij jarig? [When is he "year-y" "birthday-ish"?] - When is his birthday?
she - zij 2

(de) verjaardag (het) partijtje (het) etentje	birthday children's party (or ironical) festive dinner
(de) kadootjes (de) taart (de) gebakjes	presents cake one-person servings of cake

de / het / 't
hear

(the)

een, 'n
hear - 2

(a, an)

één
hear

(one)

In Dutch, the English word 'cake' means something like Banana Bread ‑>>

Hoe oud ben je geworden? 2 ['How old have you become?'] - What's your age now? (careful!)
numbers in Dutch Heb je veel kadootjes gekregen? Did you get many presents? Heb je een verlanglijstje? Do you have a wish list? Wat wil je voor je verjaardag hebben? 2 What (presents) would you like to have for your birthday?

Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met Uw vijfentachtigste verjaardag en een prettige dag gewenst 2 Congratulations on your 85th birthday
and wishing you a pleasant day
('Uw' = polite 'your')
(je 2 informal 'your')
ordinal numbers

Do note that Dutch people congratulate on birthdays;
Hartelijk gefeliciteerd!
Van harte gefeliciteerd 2
- there is no Gelukkige verjaardag (or Gelukkige moederdag etc.)
But next to the congratulations you could write or say in a phone call:
Een prettige dag gewenst Wishing (you) a nice day or: Een gezellige dag gewenst 2 3 Wishing (you) a pleasant day in the company of friends and/or relatives

een stukje taart

- 2

taart met kaarsjes

snacks

(het) verlanglijstje - 2

(De) verjaardag - the yearly 'birthday.' Literally translated, 'birthday' is 'geboortedag' - a very unusual word in Dutch, only used for that one day in the past that a person came into this world, and only in a sense like in 'Born on the 4th of July.' 'Date of birth' (bureaucratic use, including year) is (de) geboortedatum 2
With 'wedding day' it's the other way 'round between Dutch and English: '(de) trouwdag' 2 is both 'wedding day,' the day of the vows and what English calls 'the Anniversary,' the yearly return of that date.
There's a phrase: Dan ben je nog niet jarig! 2 3 meaning 'You will be severely punished' ['It's not going to be a birthday party ...'] - a warning, not really a threat

The Songs We Sing

One of my students tells me he sings these songs for his Dutch friends while listening to my rendering on an earphone

for men & boys
Lang zal die leven,
Lang zal die leven,
Lang zal die leven in de gloria
In de glo-ri-a, in de glo-ri-a
Hiep-hiep-hiep hoera!
Hiep-hiep-hiep hoera!

(Let him live long,)
(Let him live long,)
(Let him live long 'in glory,')
(in glory, in glory)
(hip-hip hurrah!)
(hip-hip hurrah!)

Students of Dutch may rightly wonder about 'die' - the D is added to ease pronunciation.

for women & girls
Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven in de gloria
In de glo-ri-a, in de glo-ri-a
Hiep-hiep-hiep hoera!
Hiep-hiep-hiep hoera!

(Let her live long,)
(Let her live long,)
(Let her live long 'in glory,')
(in glory, in glory)
(hip-hip hurrah!)
(hip-hip hurrah!)

for men & boys
Er is er een jarig hoera-hoera
Dat kun je wel zien dat is hij. - point finger -
Wij vinden het allen zo prettig ja-ja,
En daarom zingen wij blij:
Hij leve lang hoera-hoera,
Hij leve la-ang hoera.

(It's someone's birthday today hurrah-hurrah,)
(It's easy to see that it's him.)
(All of us think it's really nice,)
(And that's why we happily sing:)
(Let him live long hurrah-hurrah,)
(Let him live long hurrah.)

for women & girls
Er is er een jarig hoera-hoera
Dat kun je wel zien dat is zij. - point finger -
Wij vinden het allen zo prettig ja-ja,
En daarom zingen wij blij:
Zij leve lang hoera-hoera,
Zij leve la-ang hoera.

(It's someone's birthday today hurrah-hurrah,)
(It's easy to see that it's her.)
(All of us think it's really nice,)
(And that's why we happily sing:)
(Let her live long hurrah-hurrah,)
(Let her live long hurrah.)

You might also be interested in Dutch Santa Claus Songs

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The Dutch Family - The Dutch Family Tree

Wedding		See also: Family Tree: Marriage
Beste A ... en 2 B		Dear A and B - Dutch first names
Bruid en bruidegom!		Bride and groom!
Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met jullie huwelijk		Many congratulations on your marriage
Ik wens jullie veel gelukkige jaren samen		I wish you many happy years together
Ik hoop dat het een onvergetelijke dag wordt		I hope it'll be an unforgettable (memorable?) day
(Ik kan er helaas niet zelf bij zijn		Unfortunately, I cannot be there in person)

See also: geven 'to give' and krijgen 'to get, to receive'

Dutch Phrases: The Most Basic Phrases - Weather - Food and Drink -Travel -Sleep - Various - Fun Things to Say - Speaking Dutch, Speaking about Dutch
Further Study: Basic Dutch Words - Pictures Dictionary - Easy Dutch
Lessons - Pronunciation - Listening - Reading - Grammar
Other Pages You Might Like: Mail - Shopping - Medieval - Fairy Tales

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Don't be a dief (thief) - dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2