“Happy birthday” in Korean: 생일 축하해! (saengil chukahae!)

생일 축하해!

saengil chukahae!

Situation: Friends & social mediaLevel: Beginner (TOPIK 1–2)

Meaning

Happy birthday! (casual)

축하해 is the casual way to congratulate friends. For elders, switch to the honorific 생신 and say 생신 축하드립니다.

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 5 · Words: 2

Said aloud, it sounds like [생일 추카해].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
생일
생	ㅅ+ㅐ+ㅇ	saeng
일	ㅇ+ㅣ+ㄹ	il
축하해
축	ㅊ+ㅜ+ㄱ	[추] chu
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	[카] ka
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Style: Casual (반말)Sentence type: Exclamation

No -요 at the end. Used with close friends, younger people and family; avoid it with strangers and elders.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
생일	noun	birthday	TOPIK level 1

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Question 1 What does “생일 축하해!” mean?

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Answer: Happy birthday! (casual)

Question 2 How do you say “Happy birthday! (casual)” in Korean?

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Answer: 생일 축하해! saengil chukahae!

Question 3 How is “생일 축하해!” pronounced?

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Answer: [생일 추카해]

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