The most common way to say “Happy birthday” in Italian is quite straightforward: buon compleanno!
But there are a few extra “unwritten rules” that go along with birthday celebrations—and they’re not always what you’d expect.
You’ll learn the most common phrases Italians use to wish someone a happy birthday, plus some fun (and slightly weird 😅) birthday customs.
How to say Happy Birthday in Italian
Buon compleanno! Bwon kom-pleh-AHN-noh
Buon compleanno literally translates to "good birthday" and is the most common way to wish someone a happy birthday in Italian.
You might have noticed that it’s buon and not buono . Normally, to say something is good, Italians say buono :
Il cappuccino è buono - The cappuccino is good.
But with this expression, buono changes to buon —a shortened form used before certain words.
Buon compleanno! - Happy birthday!
Pssst! In Italian, it’s super common to use buon in front of a word to wish someone well. You can find out more in our post What’s Italian for “bon voyage”?
Tanti auguri! TAHN-tee ah-oo-GOOH-ree
This is another very common way to say “Happy Birthday” in Italian. Literally, it means “many good wishes”
You’ll hear this phrase a lot—especially because it’s the one used in the Italian version of the “Happy Birthday” song Tanti auguri a te! – Happy birthday to you!
Tanti auguri a te,
Tanti auguri a te,
Tanti auguri a (name)
Tanti auguri a te!
Tanti auguri is used not only for birthdays, but also for other happy occasions like Christmas or anniversaries and is one of the most common ways to say congratulations in Italian .
More Handy Birthday Phrases in Italian
Ben fatto ! Well done. Now you know how to wish your Italian friends or family a happy birthday.
Here are some other common phrases and words you might hear, or want to use, when celebrating an Italian birthday:
| Quand’è il tuo compleanno? | When is your birthday? | Kwan-DEH eel TOO-oh kom-pleh-AHN-noh? |
| Il mio compleanno è… | My birthday is… | Eel mee-oh kom-pleh-AHN-noh EH… |
| Tanti auguri di buon compleanno! | Happy birthday! (Lit. best wishes for your birthday) | TAHN-tee ah-oo-GOOH-ree dee bwon kom-pleh-AHN-noh |
| Quando festeggiamo? | When are we celebrating? | KWAHN-doh feh-stehj-JAH-moh? |
| Festeggiamo il tuo compleanno! | Let’s celebrate your birthday! | Feh-stehj-JAH-moh eel TOO-oh kom-pleh-AHN-noh! |
| Il festeggiato/ la festeggiata | The person celebrating their birthday (male/female) | eel feh-stehj-JAH-toh/lah feh-stehj-JAH-tah |
| La festa di compleanno | The birthday party | Lah FEHS-tah dee kom-pleh-AHN-noh |
| La torta | The cake | Lah TOR-tah |
| Vuoi un pezzo di torta? | Would you like a piece of cake? | Vwoy oon PET-tsoh dee TOR-tah? |
| I regali | The presents | Ee reh-GAH-lee |
| Questo è per te | This is for you | KWEH-stoh EH pehr teh |
| Il biglietto | The card | Eel bee-LYEHT-toh |
| Le candeline | The candles | Leh kahn-deh-LEE-neh |
| Spegni le candeline! | Blow out the candles! | SPEHN-yee leh kahn-deh-LEE-neh |
| Esprimi un desiderio! | Make a wish! | Eh-SPREE-mee oon deh-zee-DEH-ryoh |
| Facciamo un brindisi! | Let’s make a toast! | Fah-CHAH-moh oon BREEN-dee-zee |
| Grazie* per il regalo! | Thanks for the gift! | GRATS-yeah pehr eel reh-GAH-loh |
| Grazie* per gli auguri! | Thanks for the birthday wishes! | GRATS-yeah pehr lyee ah-oo-GOOH-ree |
| Auguri in ritardo! | Belated happy birthday! | ah-oo-GOOH-ree een ree-TAR-doh |
*If you’re not sure about your pronunciation you can check out our post on the pronunciation of grazie .
Italians don't turn their age, they complete it!
In Italian, you don’t just “turn” a certain age—you complete it! The verb Italians use is compiere (com-pyeh-reh), which literally means “to complete”.
Oggi compio 67 anni - Today I turn 67 (Lit. Today I complete 67 years)
It might sound a bit unusual at first, but if you think about it—it actually makes sense. You’ve just finished living your 67th year, so you’ve “completed” it!
Here are some more useful expressions with compiere that you can learn to ask and talk about birthdays:
| Quando compi gli anni? | When is your birthday? (Lit. When do you complete the years?) | KWAHN-doh KOM-pee lyee AHN-nee |
| Compio gli anni il… | My birthday is on the… (Lit. I complete years on the…) | KOM-pyoh lyee AHN-nee eel… |
| Quanti anni compi? | How old are you turning? (Lit. How many years are you completing?) | KWAHN-tee AHN-nee KOM-pyee |
| Non li dimostri | You don’t look your age. (Lit.You don’t show them) | Non lee dee-MOHS-tree |
| Li porti bene | You’ve aged well. (Lit. You carry them well) | Lee POR-tee BEH-neh |
Pssst! To talk about birthdays, you might want to review how to say and write dates in Italian .
Italian Birthday Traditions: What to Know Before You Celebrate
Birthdays in Italy come with a few traditions. Most are fairly common, but a couple are quite unique—and you might not know about them:
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It’s considered bad luck to celebrate early —many Italians will avoid birthday wishes, parties, or even mentioning the event before the actual day. So if you’re planning a surprise party in advance…it might not be a buona idea (good idea).
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Il festeggiato (the person celebrating) is the one who treats others!
In Italy, if it’s your birthday, you’re often the one buying coffee, drinks, or even dinner for your friends, not the other way around.
Happy birthday in Italian: Review
Let’s review the main ways to say “happy birthday” in Italian:
Buon compleanno! Bwon kom-pleh-AHN-noh
Tanti auguri! TAHN-tee ah-oo-GOOH-ree
Tanti auguri di buon compleanno ! TAHN-tee ah-oo-GOOH-ree dee bwon kom-pleh-AHN-noh
Plus some other very common birthday phrases:
Auguri in ritardo! - Belated happy birthday!
Oggi compio anni - Today I turn
Non li dimostri - You don’t look your age. (Lit. You don’t show them)
Quando festeggiamo? - When are we celebrating?
Grazie per il regalo! - Thanks for the present!
M: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
K: Today we’re talking about the most common ways you can wish “happy birthday” to your Italian friends or family and a few birthday traditions, including one thing to avoid, so you don’t accidentally bring them bad luck on their birthday!
M: Before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? if you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
K: It’s my compleanno , my birthday, in a few days so in this conversation, you’ll hear me and Matteo chatting about when we should celebrate it.
M: Tra poco è il tuo compleanno…
K: Eh sì… quando festeggiamo? Venerdì?
M: Ma il tuo compleanno è domenica. Porta sfortuna festeggiare in anticipo.
K: Ma siamo in Inghilterra. Qui non porta sfortuna!
M: Sì, ma io sono italiano quindi non ti dico “buon compleanno” fino a domenica.
K: So, Matteo said:
M: Tra poco è il tuo compleanno. It’s your birthday soon. Literally
Tra poco – Soon (this is two words “tra” and “poco”, together they mean “soon”)
È – it’s
Il- the
tuo – your
Compleanno – birthday
Tra poco è il tuo compleanno
K: So, in Italian, “birthday” is compleanno .
M: Com-ple-an-no (x2)
K: To say it like Italians do, make sure to pronounce the double n clearly. Italian double consonants are longer, so it could help to imagine a little pause in between the two n’s.
M: Complea n-n o (x2)
K: Also, did you notice that Matteo said il tuo compleanno literally “ the your birthday”?In Italian we add the word “il”, which means “the”, so for example, to say “my birthday,” you’d say “ the my birthday”:
M: Il mio compleanno (x2)
K: So, back to the conversation, I said:
M: Eh sì… quando festeggiamo? Venerdì? When shall we celebrate? Friday? Literally:
Sì – Yes
Quando – When
festeggiamo – we celebrate
Venerdì – Friday
Eh sì… quando festeggiamo? Venerdì?
K: Festeggiare means “to celebrate.” It contains the word festa , which means “party.” It makes sense because when you celebrate, there’s usually a party involved. To say “we celebrate, we say festeggiamo. The -iamo ending, shows us we’re talking about “we”. Festeggiamo . So, again, “when shall we celebrate?”, literally “when we celebrate” is:
M: Quando festeggiamo? (x2)
K: My birthday is next Sunday, the 29 of June. So, I suggested celebrating it on Friday, two days in advance, but Matteo doesn’t think is a good idea, in fact he said:
M: Ma il tuo compleanno è domenica ! But your birthday is on Sunday! Literally:
Ma – But
Il – the
Tuo- your
Compleanno – birthday
è – is
domenica – Sunday
Ma il tuo compleanno è domenica.
K: Then he added:
M: porta sfortuna festeggiare in anticipo. It’s bad luck to celebrate in advance. Literally:
porta – it brings
sfortuna – bad luck
festeggiare – to celebrate
In anticipo – in advance. You might have noticed that in anticipo " sounds similar to “anticipate”.
Porta sfortuna festeggiare in anticipo.
K: Here we have a very nice expression: porta sfortuna , which literally means “it brings bad luck.”
Porta comes from the verb portare (to bring), and sfortuna means bad luck.
It’s a common way to talk about superstitions in Italian.
M: Porta sfortuna (x2)
K: Many Italians think it’s bad luck to celebrate your birthday in advance. Why is that, Matteo? What happens if you celebrate it early?
M: [...]
K: In spite of that I still think I'd like to celebrate my birthday on Friday, so I replied:
M: Ma siamo in Inghilterra. But we’re in England. Literally:
Ma – but
siamo – we are
in – in
Inghilterra – England.
Ma siamo in Inghilterra.
K: And I added:
M: Qui non porta sfortuna! Here it’s not bad luck. Literally:
Qui – here
non – not
porta – it brings
sfortuna – bad luck
Qui non porta sfortuna!
K: But Matteo is very inflexible when it comes to superstitions, he said:
M: Sì, ma io sono italiano Yes, but I’m Italian. Literally:
Sì – Yes
Ma – but
Io – I
Sono – am
Italiano – Italian
Sì, ma io sono italiano
K: And he added:
M: quindi non ti dico “buon compleanno” fino a domenica. So I won’t say “happy birthday” until Sunday. Literally:
Quindi – so
Non – not
Ti – to you
Dico - say
Buon – good
Compleanno – birthday
Fino – until
A- to
Domenica – Sunday
quindi non ti dico “buon compleanno” fino a domenica
K: So, here we have the most common way to say “happy birthday” in Italian.
M: Buon compleanno!
K: So, we have:
M: Buon
K: Which means “good”, and the word for birthday that you already know:
M: Compleanno (x2)
K: There are a couple of details to pay close attention to when you pronounce the word “buon” . It sounds like there’s a W sound there:
M: B-www-on
K: To say this word correctly, try saying “one”, as in the number “one”. And then add a B sound before it: B-one, b-one, b-one… then get fast… bb-one… b-one… b-one… buon, buon, buon!
M: Buon (x 2)
Buon compleanno (x2)
K: Ok, now you know the most common way Italians say “happy birthday.”
There’s another very common expression, and it’s good to know because it appears in the song Italians sing for birthdays—basically, the Italian version of the “Happy Birthday” song. So, happy birthday in Italian can also be:
M: Tanti auguri — literally, “many wishes.”
Tanti auguri (x2)
K: And speaking of tanti auguri, we should share this song with everyone listening and learning Italian with us! with i ragazzi! Come on, you can sing it to me!
M: …It’s very bad luck
K: But it’s for the sake of learning Italian
M: [...]
M: Tanti auguri a te. Tanti auguri a te.Tanti auguri a Katie. Tanti auguri a te!
M: Mm… At the very least it will rain on Friday
K: So, let’s quickly review the most common phrases you can use to talk about birthdays when in Italy. How do you say “my birthday”? Remember, Italians add “the”.
M: Il mio compleanno (x2)
K: How would you ask “when shall we celebrate?” Literally, “when we celebrate”?
M: Quando festeggiamo? (x2)
K: What’s the most common way to say “happy birthday” in Italian? It literally means “good birthday”?
M: Buon compleanno (x2)
K: And what’s that other very common phrase Italians use to say “happy birthday,” the one that’s also in the birthday song?
M: Tanti auguri (x2)
K: Let’s listen to the whole conversation again.
M: Tra poco è il tuo compleanno…
K: Eh sì… quando festeggiamo? Venerdì?
M: Ma il tuo compleanno è domenica. Porta sfortuna festeggiare in anticipo.
K: Ma siamo in Inghilterra. Qui non porta sfortuna!
M: Sì, ma io sono italiano quindi non ti dico “buon compleanno” fino a domenica.
K: Now you know the most important things you need to join in a compleanno in Italy, but there’s one we haven’t mentioned yet.
M: And you’ll want to know this one because it’s something you might normally do when celebrating at home, but in Italy… it works the other way around!
K: To find out what this is and learn more common phrases, click the link to the blogpost in the description or visit italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 189.
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Happy birthday in Italian
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Happy birthday in Italian
Vocabulary
Il mio compleanno è… = My birthday is…
Grazie per il regalo! = Thanks for the gift!
Grazie per gli auguri! = Thanks for the birthday wishes!
Auguri in ritardo! = Belated happy birthday!
Quando compi gli anni? = When is your birthday? (lit. When do you complete the years?)
Compio gli anni il… = My birthday is on the… (lit. I complete years on the…)
Buon compleanno! = Happy birthday
Tanti auguri! = Happy birthday (lit. many wishes)
Quando festeggiamo? = When are we celebrating?
Flashcards: Happy birthday in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
