Happy Birthday in Korean (생일 축하해 & Every Level)

The phrase you want is 생일 축하해요 (saengil chukhaeyo) — 'happy birthday'. You'll text it, sing it, and write it in cards, but like everything in Korean it bends to fit who's blowing out the candles. Wish a grandmother happy birthday the way you'd wish your best friend and you'll miss a respect marker Koreans really notice; there's even a separate honorific word for an elder's birthday. Here's how to say it at every level, the birthday song (you already know the tune), how to write it in Hangul, and the one food that shows up at every Korean birthday.

생일 축하해 / 축하해요 / 축하합니다 — the levels

The phrase has two parts that stay put — 생일 (saengil, 'birthday') and 축하 (chukha, 'congratulations') — and an ending that changes with politeness. That ending is the whole game.

• 생일 축하해saengil chukhae

  Happy birthday (casual / 반말)

  Close friends, siblings, anyone younger. The everyday birthday line between friends.

• 생일 축하해요saengil chukhaeyo

  Happy birthday (polite)

  Your safe default — an older friend, a coworker, someone you keep -요 with.

• 생일 축하합니다saengil chukhamnida

  Happy birthday (formal)

  Cards, public messages, anyone you address formally. Also the words of the song.

Default to 생일 축하해 with friends — it's what they actually say. Reach for 생일 축하해요 when you want to stay polite, and 생일 축하합니다 for cards and formal settings.

생신 — the honorific birthday for elders

Here's the part most learners never get told. Korean has a separate, respectful word for an elder's birthday: 생신 (saengsin) is the honorific form of 생일. You use it for grandparents, parents, bosses — anyone clearly senior. Paired with the humble verb 드리다 ('to give/offer up'), it becomes the warm, respectful version below.

• 생신 축하드립니다saengsin chukhadeurimnida

  Happy birthday (honorific, for elders)

  생신 = honorific of 생일; 드립니다 = humble 'I offer'. For grandparents, parents, seniors.

• 생신 축하드려요saengsin chukhadeuryeoyo

  Happy birthday (honorific, softer)

  A touch less stiff than -드립니다 but still respectful. Warm for a parent or elder.

• 건강하세요geonganghaseyo

  Stay healthy (a common birthday wish to elders)

  Often added when wishing an elder happy birthday — 'please stay healthy'.

Knowing when to switch to 생신 is exactly the kind of honorific instinct Korean runs on. For the full picture of how respect words like 생신 and 드리다 work, see our guide to Korean honorifics.

The Korean birthday song (생일 축하합니다)

Good news: you already know the melody. Koreans sing the birthday song to the exact same tune as the English 'Happy Birthday to You'. Only the words change, and they're simple enough to learn in one read:

• 생일 축하합니다saengil chukhamnida

  Happy birthday to you

  The first line — sung twice, just like the English version.

• 사랑하는 우리 [이름]saranghaneun uri [ireum]

  Our dear [name]

  사랑하는 = 'beloved/dear', 우리 = 'our'. Slot the birthday person's name in here.

• 생일 축하합니다saengil chukhamnida

  Happy birthday to you

  The closing line — the same as the first. That's the whole song.

How to write 생일 축하해 in Hangul

'Happy birthday' in Hangul is 생일 축하해 — two words, five syllable blocks total, read left to right. Each block stacks its letters in the standard Hangul order. Here's the breakdown:

• 생saeng

  ㅅ (s) + ㅐ (ae) + ㅇ (ng)

  A bottom consonant (받침) ㅇ closes the block with an -ng.

• 일il

  ㅇ (silent) + ㅣ (i) + ㄹ (l)

  Leading ㅇ is silent here; 받침 ㄹ gives the -l. 생 + 일 = 생일 ('birthday').

• 축chuk

  ㅊ (ch) + ㅜ (u) + ㄱ (k)

  받침 ㄱ closes the block with a -k.

• 하ha

  ㅎ (h) + ㅏ (a)

  Consonant left, vowel right.

• 해hae

  ㅎ (h) + ㅐ (ae)

  Put together: 축 + 하 + 해 = 축하해. Full phrase: 생일 축하해.

If those letters look unfamiliar, our guide to the Korean alphabet (Hangul) walks through every consonant and vowel, and how to write in Korean covers stroke order so your 생일 축하해 looks natural by hand.

미역국 — the seaweed soup birthday tradition

On your birthday in Korea, you eat 미역국 (miyeok-guk) — a savory seaweed soup. The tradition comes from new mothers: Korean women eat 미역국 for weeks after giving birth because the seaweed is rich in iodine and calcium, believed to help recovery and milk production. So eating it on your birthday is a quiet nod to your mother and the day she had you. That's why a very common birthday question is 미역국 먹었어? (miyeok-guk meogeosseo?) — 'did you eat seaweed soup?', meaning 'did you celebrate your birthday?'. There's even a slang twist: 미역국 먹다 can mean 'to fail an exam', because the slippery seaweed is said to make you 'slip up' — so Koreans avoid eating it the day before a big test.

• 미역국 먹었어?miyeok-guk meogeosseo?

  Did you eat seaweed soup? (= did you celebrate your birthday?)

  A warm, casual way to acknowledge someone's birthday.

• 생일 선물saengil seonmul

  birthday present

  선물 = 'gift'. 생일 선물 뭐 받았어? = 'what did you get for your birthday?'

• 생일 파티saengil pati

  birthday party

  파티 is borrowed from English 'party'.

Choosing the right level

If you're ever unsure which form to use, this is the quick rule: friend or younger → 생일 축하해; polite default → 생일 축하해요; card or formal → 생일 축하합니다; grandparent or any clear elder → 생신 축하드립니다. When in doubt with someone older, polite never offends — but reaching for 생신 with an elder will quietly impress.

Practice wishing it for real

Wishing someone a happy birthday in Korean is easy; matching the level to the person — and remembering to lift 생일 into 생신 for an elder — is the part that takes practice. The fastest way to get it is to use the phrases in real conversation. In our AI character chat, characters speak to you at different politeness levels, so you can feel when 생일 축하해요 should soften into 생일 축하해 or lift into 생신 축하드립니다. For the everyday phrases that surround a birthday — greetings, thanks, small talk — see our guide to basic Korean greetings, and for the food and table manners behind 미역국 and birthday meals, our guide to Korean culture and etiquette covers it.