Lesson 15. Wishes on Special Occasions

With holiday season around  I believe it is time to dedicate this lesson to special wishes on beautiful occasions.

We will start with Christmas and New Year wishes and will move forward trying to cover as many occasions as possible.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR (WEIHNACHTEN UND NEUJAHR)

The most common and traditional wish on this occasion we know is

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

In German to express the same thought we will have to say

Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr!

In the table you will find more examples of German wishes on Christmas and New Year

German English
Ein frohes Fest!

Frohe Festtage!

Season’s Greetings!

A joyous holiday!

Happy Holidays!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Frohes Weihnachtsfest!

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas!
Ein gesegnetes Weihnachtsfest! A blessed / joyous Christmas!
Gesegnete Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr! A blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Herzliche Weihnachtsgrüße! Best Christmas greetings!
Ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und alles Gute zum neuen Jahr! A joyful Christmas (festival) and best wishes for the New Year!
Ein frohes und besinnliches Weihnachtsfest! A Merry and Reflective / Thoughtful Christmas!
Glückliches Neujahr! / Ein glückliches neues Jahr! Happy New Year!
Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! A good start in the New Year!
Alles Gute zum neuen Jahr! Best wishes for the New Year!
Prosit Neujahr! Happy New Year!
Glück und Erfolg im neuen Jahr! Good fortune and success in the New Year!

BIRTHDAY (GEBURTSTAG)

German English
Alles Gute Best wishes
Herzlichen Glückwunsch Congratulations
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Happy Birthday!
Herzliche Glückwünsche mit Geburtstag! Happy birthday!
Viel Glück zum Geburtstag! Many happy returns of the day!

MARRIAGE AND ANNIVERSARY (HOCHZEIT)

German English
zur/zu deiner/zu Ihrer Verlobung! on your engagement!
zur/zu deiner/zu Ihrer Hochzeit/Vermählung! on your wedding!
zur goldenen/silbernen Hochzeit! on your golden/silver wedding anniversary!

In the beginning of the phrase you can add any wishes from the above.

Example:

Alles Gute zu Ihrer Verlobung!

All the best on your engagement!

Below you will find an additional list of most common wishes on different occasions with their translation into English.

GRATULATIONEN UND GLÜCKWÜNSCHE

  1. (Ich) Gratuliere! – Congratulations!
  2. Ich gratuliere Ihnen herzlich! / Herzliche Glückwünsche! – Hearty congratulations!
  3. Frohe Ostern! – Happy Easter!
  4. Ich wünsche Ihnen/dir Glück! – I wish you happiness!
  5. Ich wünsche Ihnen/dir Gesundheit! – I wish you health!
  6. Ich wünsche Ihnen/dir Erfolg! – I wish you success!
  7. Ich wünsche Ihnen/dir und Ihren/deinen Nächsten große Lebensfreude. – I wish you and your loved ones lots of joy.
  8. Meine besten Glückwünsche! – My best wishes!
  9. Ich wünsche Ihnen alles Gute! – I wish you all the best!
  10. Weiterhin alles Gute! – All the best in the future.
  11. Viel Vergnügen! / Viel Spas! – Have fun!
  12. Mögen alle Ihre Wünsche in Erfüllung gehen! – May all your dreams come true!

Remember that in German you use different pronouns based on how much respect you show to the person, if you know them or not, etc. So, if you want to wish to some senior person, your boss, or if you want to show additional respect then you have to use the form “Ihnen” otherwise stick to a less formal “dir”.

Now you know how to wish in German someone on a very special occasion. Your only task will be to prepare a special card in German to wish your friends on Christmas. You still have over a week to do so.

3 thoughts on “Lesson 15. Wishes on Special Occasions”

    1. Hello Mohammad,

      I am glad you enjoy these lessons. Please let me know if you have had any trouble to understand the grammar part.

  1. This is a nice idea to present all the occasional wishes together. It is very important in every day life to know how to wish something to anybody. I would like to ask something! In which other occasion is the phrase ‘Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!’ used? I think that I hear it sometimes and it’s definitely not a birthday occasion. When can somebody use it?

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