Basic dates: Discussing birthdays

🇩🇪 The standard birthday wish, often expanded to Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! "Happy birthday!". It works for anyone, formal or informal.

💬 An infinitive at the end can work as a blunt instruction: Nicht rauchen! "No smoking!", Bitte einsteigen! "Please board!". You'll see this on signs a lot.

🇩🇪 Many Germans genuinely believe wishing happy birthday before the day brings bad luck, so wait until the day itself. At a party the night before, people count down to midnight and congratulate then, which is called reinfeiern "celebrating into" the birthday.

💬 bringen "to bring" is the usual verb for luck. The opposite is Das bringt Glück "That brings good luck".

🇩🇪 A very common reaction when someone explains something you didn't know. It signals understanding, sometimes with mild surprise.

💬 Yes/no questions just put the verb first: Du feierst becomes Feierst du?. Same with Kommst du? "Are you coming?".

💬 Days of the week take am: am Montag, am Freitag. Times take um instead: um acht "at eight".

💬 German says "Do you have time?" where English says "Are you free?". frei would sound like you're asking whether someone is single or the seat is free.

💬 gern after a verb means you like doing it: Ich tanze gern "I like dancing".

🇩🇪 Guests usually bring something small, such as a bottle of wine, flowers or a little gift, rather than arriving empty-handed.

🇩🇪 Germans take party start times fairly seriously. Arriving roughly on time or a little after is normal, and very late without notice can seem rude.

💬 bei plus a person means "at their place": bei dir "at your place", bei meinen Eltern "at my parents'". It works like French chez.

💬 bis plus a time makes a goodbye: bis morgen "see you tomorrow", bis später "see you later", bis bald "see you soon".