Christmas Day: Exchanging Christmas greetings and well-wishes

💬 German has no separate "am celebrating" form, so ich feiere covers both "I celebrate" and "I'm celebrating".

💬 After mit, plural words often add an extra -n: Freunde becomes Freunden, and Kinder becomes mit Kindern.

💬 When a sentence starts with Dann, the verb comes next and the person follows it: Dann wünsche ich, not Dann ich wünsche.

💬 Ihnen is the "to you" form of Sie, used because the wish is going to the other person. With a friend you'd say Ich wünsche dir.

💬 Wishes are things you give, so ein schöner Tag turns into einen schönen Tag. The same happens in Einen guten Rutsch!.

🇩🇪 Feiertage means public holidays, and this is a safe, neutral wish for anyone over Christmas.

💬 After mit, die becomes der: die Familie becomes mit der Familie.

💬 Enkel stays the same whether you mean one grandchild or several. Only the word before it shows the difference: mein Enkel or meine Enkel.

💬 heute combines with times of day: heute Abend "this evening", heute Morgen "this morning".

💬 viel Spaß works on its own as a full wish, with no verb needed. Add whatever fits after it: Viel Spaß beim Essen! "Enjoy the meal!"

💬 Rutsch literally means "slide", so this wishes someone a smooth slide into the new year.

🇩🇪 People say this in the days before New Year's Eve, often as their parting words after Christmas.

💬 uns here means "each other", and nicht goes after it.

💬 After falls "in case", the verb moves to the very end: wir sehen uns nicht becomes falls wir uns nicht sehen.

🇩🇪 Neighbours often use this to justify wishing a happy New Year early, typically followed by Einen guten Rutsch!.

🇩🇪 This is the standard reply to any seasonal wish and works for nearly every greeting. With friends, say Danke, dir auch!