Basic dates: Discussing birthdays
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Key Phrases
你家谁快过生日了？
nǐ jiā shuí kuài guò shēng rì le
Whose birthday is coming soon in your family?
你妈妈几月几号生日？
nǐ mā mā jǐ yuè jǐ hào shēng rì
What month and day is your mom's birthday?
你们会一起庆祝吗？
nǐ men huì yì qǐ qìng zhù ma
Will you celebrate together?
Skills You'll Learn
Ask about which family member has an upcoming birthday.
询问家里谁快要过生日。
xún wèn jiā lǐ shuí kuài yào guò shēng rì
Say birthday dates using months and days.
用几月几号表达生日日期。
yòng jǐ yuè jǐ hào biǎo dá shēng rì rì qī
Talk about family celebrations and eating together.
谈论家人一起庆祝和吃饭。
tán lùn jiā rén yì qǐ qìng zhù hé chī fàn
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you are chatting with a friend about upcoming family birthdays, asking when each family member was born and whether the whole family will celebrate together.
你家谁快过生日了？
nǐ jiā shuí kuài guò shēng rì le
Who in your family has a birthday coming up soon?
我妈妈下周过生日。
wǒ mā mā xià zhōu guò shēng rì
My mother’s birthday is next week.
你妈妈几月几号生日？
nǐ mā mā jǐ yuè jǐ hào shēng rì
What is your mother's birthday?
她八月十二号生日。
tā bā yuè shí èr hào shēng rì
Her birthday is on August 12th.
你爸爸呢？
nǐ bà bà ne
Where is your dad?
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
你家
nǐ jiā
Your family / your home
💬 [家] after a person can mean their family or household, not just a building: [我家] means "my family / my home." You can reuse this with people words like [你家] or [他家].
See breakdown →谁
shuí
Who
💬 In [你家谁快过生日了？], [谁] means "which person" inside the family, so the whole question is really "who in your family." Chinese often uses [谁] this way without adding a separate word for "in."
See breakdown →你家谁快过生日了？
nǐ jiā shuí kuài guò shēng rì le
Whose birthday is coming soon in your family?
💬 [快] before a verb means "soon" or "almost": [快过生日了] = "will have a birthday soon." You can swap in other verbs too, like [快下班了] "getting off work soon."
See breakdown →我
wǒ
I / me
妈妈
mā mā
Mom / mother
我妈妈
wǒ mā mā
My mom
💬 For close family, Chinese often just puts the person after [我] with no extra word: [我妈妈], [我爸爸], [我爷爷]. It works the same with [你] and [他]: [你妈妈], [他奶奶].
See breakdown →下周
xià zhōu
Next week
过生日
guò shēng rì
Have a birthday
💬 [过生日] is the usual way to say "celebrate/have a birthday," not just plain [生日]. The pattern [过] + event also appears in things like [过年] "celebrate New Year."
See breakdown →我妈妈下周过生日。
wǒ mā mā xià zhōu guò shēng rì
My mom's birthday is next week.
💬 Time words usually come before the main verb in Chinese: [我妈妈下周过生日] literally "my mom next week has a birthday." The same pattern works with other times, like [我明天上班].
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