Let's talk about cumpleaños (birthdays) in Spanish!
To kick off our lesson on birthdays in Spanish, let's first recall that the way to say that you are a certain edad (age) in Spanish is tener años (literally "to have years"). So, if you wanted to ask someone how old they were in Spanish, you could say:
¿Cuántos años tienes?
How old are you?
Caption 11, El Aula Azul Los tutti frutti
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(or ¿Cuántos años tiene? when addressing someone as the more formal usted). And if someone asks you how old you are, you could say tengo (insert a number) años, as we see here:
Tengo dieciséis años.
I'm sixteen years old.
Caption 7, Cleer Entrevista a Lila
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Like in English, if you wanted to say just "I'm sixteen" without the "years old," you could omit the word años and say simply, "Tengo dieciséis." And, as you could say, "What's your age?" in English, in Spanish, you could say:
¿Tú qué edad tienes? ¿Yo? Veinticuatro.
How old are you? Me? Twenty-four.
Captions 6-7, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 8
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(This question could be translated as "How old are you?" as well). If you need a refresher on the numbers in Spanish, we invite you to read this lesson on The Numbers from One to One Hundred in Spanish.
Finally, if you wish to speak more generally about age in Spanish, you might use adjectives like jóven (young), viejo/a (old),
adolescente (teenage/adolescent), de edad media (middle-aged), or anciano/a (elderly), although you shouldn't forget that la edad es solo un número (age is just a number)!
The Spanish word for birthday, (el) cumpleaños, comes from the verb cumplir años, which means "to have a birthday." Its literal meaning is something like "to complete" or "accomplish years," which makes sense since getting to the next age sometimes feels like an accomplishment! So, to ask someone when his or her birthday is, you might say:
¿Cuándo cumple(s) (años)?
When's your birthday?
Cumple is, of course, the usted (formal "you") form, while cumples is the less formal version with tú. And the word años (years) is in parentheses because including it is optional, as you will see in the following clip that includes both versions (notice that the second instance of cumplir is conjugated with vos, or the informal "you" in certain regions):
¡No lo puedo creer! -¡Yo cumplo mañana! ¿Mañana cumplís años? -¡Sí, mañana! -¡Llegué pa' la fiesta!
I can't believe it! -My birthday is tomorrow! Tomorrow is your birthday? -Yes, tomorrow! -I arrived [just in time] for the party!
Captions 89-90, Muñeca Brava 3 Nueva Casa - Part 8
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We also see the first person conjugation with yo (I), which will come in handy when you want to tell someone when your birthday is:
Cumplo el dos de abril.
My birthday is April second.
Note that when this verb is used with a certain number, it means "to turn (a certain number of) years old."
Yo hoy cumplo treinta y seis años;
Today I turn thirty-six;
Caption 46, Clase Aula Azul Pedir deseos - Part 1
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And to say you "just turned" a certain age, you might say:
Tengo nueve años recién cumplidos. [Paula y Ester]
I just turned nine years old. [Paula and Ester]
Caption 3, Paula y Ester Los objetos de Paula
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To conclude this section, let's take a look at slightly more literal options for asking someone when his or her birthday is and saying when yours is, noting that tu and su are the less and more formal ways to say "your," respectively:
¿Cuándo es tu/su cumpleaños? -Mi cumpleaños es el dos de abril
When is your birthday? -My birthday is April second.
Or, you could use the more colloquial, abbreviated form and say merely: "¿Cuándo es tu/su cumple?"
Another, more formal way to ask someone when they "were born" is with the verb nacer, with a question like: "¿Cuándo naciste (tú)?" or "¿Cuándo nació (usted)?" Now, let's see how to say "I was born":
Nací el catorce de enero de mil novecientos ochenta y siete.
I was born on January fourteenth, nineteen eighty-seven.
Caption 18, Raquel Poner una denuncia
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As this question might evoke a more detailed response involving your birth month/year, if you need to review how to say these things in Spanish, check out these lessons on How to Write and Say the Months in Spanish and Saying Years in Spanish. And remember that, like in English, Spanish has a different word for "birthdate" (as opposed to "birthday"), which is fecha de nacimiento.
Now that you know how to talk about age and birthdays in Spanish, let's learn some vocabulary to festejar or celebrar (both mean "to celebrate") a feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday).
Perhaps you want to plan a fiesta de cumpleaños (birthday party). The verbs for having, or throwing a party in Spanish include hacer (to make/do), preparar (to prepare), or organizar (to organize) una fiesta (a party):
Karla, sabes, me gustaría hacer una fiesta
Karla, you know, I'd like to have a party
Caption 10, Karla e Isabel Preparar una fiesta
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First, you'd better send out some invitaciones (invitations) to the lista de invitados (guest list).
Ya he enviado las invitaciones a todos mis amigos
I have already sent the invitations to all my friends
Caption 3, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños
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When the guests arrive, they just might come bearing regalos (gifts). The verb for giving a gift is regalar. They might also give you a tarjeta de cumpleaños, which can also be called a tarjeta de felicitación (literally a "congratulations card"). In fact, in addition to telling you "Feliz cumpleaños" on your birthday, Spanish speakers might say "Felicitaciones" (Congratulations) or "Te/le felicito" (I congratulate you).
In terms of the decoraciones (decorations), you've got to have balloons! While globo is probably the most common word for "balloon" in Spanish, different countries have different words like balón, vejiga (which also means bladder!), chimbomba, or just bomba.
O una bomba de papel metalizado.
Or a silver paper balloon.
Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 10 - Part 6
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And don't forget the cake! Words for "cake," which also vary from country to country, include la tarta, el pastel, la torta, and el bizcocho. Let's hear a couple of these in action:
Mirad, aquí está la tarta. Cumplo treinta y seis.
Look, here's the cake. I'm turning thirty-six.
Caption 11, Clase Aula Azul Pedir deseos - Part 1
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Un rol protagónico lo tiene el pastel de la quinceañera
The birthday girl's cake plays a leading role
Caption 33, Venezuela La tradición de los quince años
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In the second example, quinceañera refers to the birthday girl at a special, coming-of-age celebration for girls' fifteenth birthday that is celebrated in many Latin American countries (this word can also refer to the party itself). The video La tradición de los quince elaborates on this custom.
And finally, let's talk about las velas (candles) that go on a birthday cake. The verb for "blowing" them (out) is soplar, during which the cumpleañero/a (birthday boy/girl) should pedir deseos (make wishes):
Y yo que soy la cumpleañera, pido un deseo y soplo las velas.
And I, as I'm the birthday girl, make a wish and blow out the candles.
Captions 13-14, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños
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And we mustn't forget the "Happy Birthday" song, which shares the same tune in English and Spanish. Let's listen to a couple of different versions in Spanish:
Cumpleaños feliz Cumpleaños feliz Cumpleaños felices Te deseamos a ti
Happy Birthday Happy Birthday Happy Birthdays We wish to you
Captions 6-9, Curso de guitarra Para los que empiezan desde cero - Part 3
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Que los cumplas feliz.
Happy birthday to you.
Caption 10, Marta Vocabulario de Cumpleaños
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That's all for today. To hear many of these Spanish birthday vocabulary words in action and learn some more, you might watch Marta- Vocabulario de cumpleaños. In the meantime, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and... don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments!
The use of the Spanish subjunctive can be a source of confusion for native English speakers. However, the easy-to-recall acronym W.E.I.R.D.O. can help you to understand when to use subjunctive in Spanish.
The subjunctive is one of the three "moods" in Spanish: the indicative, the subjunctive, and the imperative. Most simply put, the imperative encompasses commands, the indicative describes objective or certain actions, and verbs in the subjunctive reflect subjectivity, a lack of certainty, or emotion.
You can tell a Spanish verb is subjunctive because it is conjugated differently than "normal." For example, while Tú hablas means "You speak" in the indicative, if you wish to say, "I hope you speak," the verb changes to hables in the translation Espero que tú hables because the concept of "hoping" something happens is subjunctive. In contrast, while the English language is perfectly capable of expressing these same ideas, there is no difference in the form of the verbs in the equivalent sentences "You speak" and "I hope you speak."
Because the subjunctive is a mood rather than a tense, it might depict actions in the past, present, or future. For this reason, just like in the indicative mood, there are many subjunctive tenses in Spanish. That said, the examples in today's lesson will be in the present subjunctive, which you can learn how to formulate in this lesson on conjugating the present subjunctive in Spanish.
The Spanish subjunctive is used in dependent clauses that are often introduced by que or another conjunction. Subjunctive sentences typically involve more than one subject and more than one verb. For example, in our aforementioned sentence: Yo espero que tú hables, there are two subjects, Yo (I) and tú (you), and two verbs, espero (I hope) and hables (you speak), with the subjunctive verb hables appearing in the dependent clause that follows the word que.
The amusing acronym W.E.I.R.D.O., which stands for Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal Expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/Denial, and Ojalá, can help you to remember several contexts that require the subjunctive. In each subcategory, we will introduce you to several verbs that "trigger" the use of the subjunctive.
Just because one wishes or hopes things will happen doesn't mean they will, not to mention those actions we ask (or even order!) others to perform. Spanish employs the subjunctive mood to talk about such situations, often using the common formula of a "wishing" verb plus que plus a verb in the present subjunctive. Let's take a look at some examples:
Si queremos que nuestro café sea más dulce podemos añadir azúcar, nata, leche condensada, miel.
If we want for our coffee to be sweeter we can add sugar, cream, condensed milk, honey.
Captions 25-26, Karla e Isabel Como pedir un café
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Así que, esperamos que lo disfruten, que lo sepan gozar, pero eso sí de una manera muy sana.
So, we hope you enjoy it, that you know how to enjoy it, but mind you in a very healthy way.
Captions 25-26, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 6 - Part 1
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Solo te pido que me digas cuál de ellos es Triskas:
I'll just ask for you to tell me which of them is Triskas:
Captions 11-12, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 5: Ha nacido una estrella - Part 4
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Verbs that fall into this category of describing wishes or desires include desear (to want/wish/desire), esperar (to hope), exigir (to demand/require), insistir (to insist), mandar (to order), necesitar (to need), ordenar (to order), pedir (to ask), preferir (to prefer), and querer (to want).
Spanish also utilizes the subjunctive mood to talk about one's feeling regarding some action or state, even if it's objectively true. As an example, if you wanted to say "I'm very happy you have a new job," you might use the formula emotion verb plus a conjunction (e.g. que or de que) plus a subjunctive verb to get: Me alegro mucho de que tengas un trabajo nuevo. Let's see some more examples:
Me alegro de que le guste.
I'm glad you like it.
Caption 15, Los casos de Yabla Problemas de convivencia - Part 2
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A mí lo que me molesta es que tú tengas la verdad de todo. -Loca...
What bothers me is that you have the truth about everything. -Girl...
Caption 54, Yago 9 Recuperación - Part 4
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Encantada [de] que estés aquí, Carolina, bienvenida. -Muchas gracias.
[I'm] delighted you're here, Carolina, welcome. -Thank you very much.
Caption 9, El reencuentro Las amigas hablan del trabajo y el amor.
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Note that in this last example, the speaker omits the implied verb estar (to be), using only the adjective encantada to convey her delight as is often done in spoken Spanish.
Some common emotion verbs that invoke the subjunctive include alegrarse (to be happy/glad), enojarse (to be/get angry), encantar (to delight), lamentar (to regret), molestar (to bother), sentir (to be sorry), and sorpender (to surprise), among others. For more ways to talk about feelings in Spanish, we recommend this lesson on expressing emotions in Spanish.
Impersonal expressions in both Spanish and English are constructions that do not involve a particular person, for example, Hace viento (It's windy). Impersonal expressions in Spanish that involve the word Es (It's) plus almost any adjective plus the word que are indicators that the verb that follows should be conjugated in the Spanish subjunctive.
Although the adjectives in such impersonal expressions are innumerable, several popular ones include: agradable (nice), bueno (good), curioso (interesting), dudoso (doubtful), estupendo (great), extraño (strange), importante (important), increíble (amazing), necesario (necessary), probable (probable), raro (strange), urgente (urgent), and vergonzoso (embarrassing). Here are a few examples:
y es raro que todavía no haya nadie.
and it's strange that there's nobody [here] still.
Caption 38, Raquel Avisos de Megafonía
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Señor Di Carlo, es importante que hable con usted.
Mister DiCarlo, it's important that I talk to you.
Caption 78, Muñeca Brava 41 La Fiesta - Part 6
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No es necesario que mientas.
It's not necessary for you to lie.
Caption 17, Muñeca Brava 18 - La Apuesta - Part 12
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Although impersonal expressions can typically be positive or negative and still require the subjunctive, as in this last example (no es necesario in lieu of es necesario), the exception is when they state facts. Examples include es verdad que (it's true that), es cierto que (it's certain that), es seguro que (it's sure that) and es un hecho que (it's a fact that). However, the negative versions of these phrases do require the Spanish subjunctive, as we see in the following examples in which only the second sentence calls for the subjunctive switch:
Es un hecho que él está enfermo (It's a fact that he's sick) = INDICATIVE.
No es un hecho que él esté enfermo (It's not a fact that he's sick) = SUBJUNCTIVE.
As with wishes, the fact we can't be sure if the actions we suggest or recommend will come to fruition is expressed with the subjunctive in Spanish. Our formula would thus consist of a "recommending verb" plus que plus a verb in subjunctive. Such "recommending" verbs include but aren't limited to aconsejar (to advise), decir (to tell), dejar (to allow), exigir (to demand), hacer (to make/force), insistir (to insist), mandar (to order), ordenar (to order), prohibir (to forbid), proponer (to propose), recomendar (to recommend), rogar (to beg), sugerir (to suggest), and suplicar (to beg), some of which overlap with the "wishes" category. Let's see some examples:
les sugiero que visiten el sugestivo Museo del oro,
I suggest that you visit the intriguing Gold Museum,
Caption 34, Aprendiendo con Carlos América precolombina - Mitos y leyendas Muiscas
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te recomiendo que muevas algunos muebles del salón a la cocina.
I recommend that you move some pieces of furniture from the living room to the kitchen.
Captions 32-33, Karla e Isabel Preparar una fiesta
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les aconsejo que vayan a Zipaquirá,
I advise you to go to Zipaquira,
Caption 29, Aprendiendo con Carlos América precolombina - Mitos y leyendas Muiscas
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The Yabla video Escuela Don Quijote- En el aula- Part 1 can teach you even more about using the Spanish subjunctive to give advice.
Sentences that express doubt and denial also call for the Spanish subjunctive via a similar formula: a doubt/denial verb plus que plus a verb in the subjunctive. Interestingly, although this includes the verb dudar (to doubt) in sentences like Dudo que venga (I doubt he'll come), most of the other verbs in this category are negative, in other words, consist of a verb with "no" in front of it. Examples include: no creer (to not believe), no estar seguro (to not be sure), no parecer (to not seem), no pensar (to not think), and no suponer (to not suppose). Let's see some of these in action:
No, no. No creo que haga falta; eso ya está aclarado.
No, no. I don't think it's necessary; that's already cleared up.
Caption 36, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 5
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No, no me parece que queden bien.
No, it doesn't seem like you fit together well to me.
Caption 41, Misión Chef 2 - Pruebas - Part 5
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On the other hand, the positive versions of these very same verbs (without no) trigger the indicative rather than the subjunctive:
Me parece que es la hora de terminar, ¿eh?
I think it's time to finish, huh?
Caption 76, El Aula Azul La Doctora Consejos: parecer y parecerse
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Creo que necesito ir al médico.
I think I need to go to the doctor.
Caption 4, Ariana Cita médica
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Another construction that always goes with the subjunctive is ojalá que (or sometimes just ojalá), which can be translated with such expressions as "I hope," "Let's hope," "If only," and even "God willing." This can be seen in the title of the famous (and very catchy!) tune by Juan Luis Guerra, Ojalá que llueva café en el campo (I Hope it Rains Coffee on the Countryside). Let's watch another couple of examples from our Yabla video library:
Pues, ojalá que tengáis siempre abiertas las puertas de vuestras casas y de vuestros corazones
Well, I hope that you always have open the doors to your homes and your hearts
Captions 56-57, Luis Guitarra Llegaste tú
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Ojalá que todo siga así.
I hope everything keeps going like that.
Caption 60, El reencuentro Las amigas hablan del trabajo y el amor.
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For more examples, check out Clase Aula Azul's video on the use of ojalá with the subjunctive in Spanish. Let's conclude with one last example:
Bueno, muchas gracias y... y ojalá nos veamos pronto.
Well, thank you very much and... and I hope we see each other soon.
Caption 36, Los Juegos Olímpicos Mario Mola
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Our sentiments exactly! On that note, we hope you've enjoyed this lesson on when to use the subjunctive in Spanish, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
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