Estoy de cumple

Everybody loves birthdays.  Too bad our Spanish books didn't teach us everything we need to know to celebrate them properly.   But don't worry, today you're going to learn some Spanish that will impress your friends and show them that all your hard work is paying off.

Let's start with the verb cumplir.

When you're talking about age cumplir means to turn a certain age.

Hoy cumplo 30 años
Today I turn 30


Mi hijo cumplió 12 años en agosto
My son turned 12 years old in August

Mi tio cumple 50 manaña
My Uncle turns 50 tomorrow

You probably know where this is going next.  You can't talking about turning a year older without talking about birthdays.

Feliz cumpleaños
Happy birthday

You can also say:

Feliz cumple
Happy B-Day

OK, that's not a literal translation, but it's basically the English equivalent.  This is a very informal way to say it.

You were probably taught to say "today is my birthday" using:

Hoy es mi cumpleaños
Today is my birthday

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but you do have another option.

Estoy de cumple
Today's my birthday

¿Estás de cumple?
Is today your birthday?

¿Quién está de cumple?
Who's birthday is it?

That's actually the short version. The complete sentence is:

¿Quién está de cumpleaños?

You could also say:

¿Quien cumple años hoy?
Who has a birthday today?

Es mi cumple
It's my birthday

¿De quién es el cumpleaños? 
Who's birthday is it?

In English we love to ask the question "Who's the birthday boy?", and you can  ask the same question in Spanish:

¿Quién es el cumpleañero?
Who's the birthday boy?

¿Quién es la cumpleañera?
Who's the birthday girl?

Now that we know a bit more about birthdays and the verb cumplir, we can make our birthday wishes a little more creative.

Feliz cumpleaños,  que cumplas muchos más
Happy birthday, may you turn many more

That wraps it up for today, but we're nowhere near done talking about age.  In my next post we'll talk more about the many other things your Spanish book left out.