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