German Phrases For Special Occasions Posted by Constanze on Nov 27, 2017 in Culture, Holidays, Language, Traditions
Guten Tag! As the festive season is upon us, we’ll all be wishing each other a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or other seasonal greetings. There are so many special events in life, and certain phrases that are fitting for them. We all know that Merry Christmas is Frohe Weihnachten in German, but what about ways to say ‘My condolences’, ‘All the best’, and ‘Good luck’ – and the occasions you want to use these for? Here are a bunch of phrases you can use in Grußkarten (greeting cards), emails, and in conversation!
Let’s start with phrases relating to the Christmas season.
Merry Christmas
Frohe Weihnachten
Happy New Year
Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr
Happy holidays/Season’s greetings
Frohe Feiertage
Happy Thanksgiving
Frohes Erntedankfest
Happy Hannukah
Frohe Chanukka
BIRTHDAYS
You probably know how to say Happy Birthday (Alles Gute zum Geburtstag / Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag) but what if you’re a bit late with your greetings and want to say ‘Happy belated birthday’? The German phrase for that is either: Glücklicher verspäteter Geburtstag or Nachträglich alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
CONGRATULATIONS
If you simply want to say congratulations, you can say Herzlichen Glückwunsch (Congratulations) or, more informally, Gratuliere (congrats)! But if you want to be more specific, here are some occasions on which you might say congratulations, and the phrases you need for them.
ENGAGEMENT, MARRIAGE & ANNIVERSARY
Congratulations on your engagement
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Verlobung
All the best for your future together
Alles Gute für eure gemeinsame Zukunft
Congratulations on your wedding/getting married
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Hochzeit
All the best on your wedding day
Die allerbesten Wünsche zur Hochzeit
Happy anniversary
Frohes Jubiläum
NEW BABY
To the proud parents of [name]
An die stolzen Eltern von [Name]
Congratulations on the birth of your baby
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Geburt eures Babys
Congratulations on the birth of your son
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Geburt eures Sohnes
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Geburt eurer Tochter
ACHIEVEMENTS & WELL WISHES
Congratulations on passing your exams
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur bestandenen Prüfung
Congratulations on your new job
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum neuen Job
All the best for the future
Alles Gute für die Zukunft
Get well soon
Gute Besserung
CONDOLENCES
Unfortunately, life is also full of sad moments. It’s at these times that saying the right things are of upmost importance. So if you want to express your condolences in German, here are some phrases you can use. The parts in brackets can be added or taken away.
My (heartfelt) condolences
Mein (herzliches) Beileid
My deepest sympathy
Mein tiefes Mitgefühl
Our thoughts (and prayers) are with you
Unsere Gedanken (und Gebete) sind bei Ihnen (you- formal)/euch (you-plural & informal)/dir (you-singular & informal)
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
If you’re not sure, here are the simplest ways of saying all of the above. After all, it’s the thought that counts (especially if you’re not a native German speaker).
Good luck
Viel Glück
Congratulations
Herzlichen Glückwunsch
All the best
Alles Gute
My condolences
Mein Beileid
Get well soon
Gute Besserung
I hope this post will be of use to you. By the way, if you want to learn these phrases in Norwegian, too, check out our Norwegian blog, where I got the inspiration for this post from. Takk! 🙂
Bis bald
Constanze
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