If you’re learning Spanish, it’s very likely that you already know how to wish someone a happy birthday. But do you know how to say when your birthday is or how to ask for someone’s birthday in Spanish?
These are the most common expressions to ask when someone’s birthday is in Spanish:
- ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? – When is your birthday?
- ¿Cuándo cumples años? – When is your birthday?
- ¿Qué día es tu cumpleaños? – What day is your birthday?
- ¿Cuál es tu fecha de nacimiento? – What is your date of birth?
- ¿Fecha de nacimiento? – Date of birth?
If for some reason you need to know how to ask when someone’s birthday is in Spanish, you have come to the right place! In this article I’ll teach you different expressions that you can use to obtain this information 😉
I’ll provide you with examples using these expressions and descriptions so you know the best contexts to apply each one of these phrases.
And since it’s also important that you know how to talk about your birthday and tell others when it is, I’ll also show you some structures that you can use.
Jump to:
Not only will you be able to ask for someone’s birthday in Spanish, but you’ll also know how to tell others when your birthday is.
1. ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? – When is your birthday?
Given that it’s the direct translation of ‘when is your birthday?’, ¿cuándo es tu cumpleaños? is the most common question that we can use to ask for someone’s birthday in Spanish. As a standard expression, this phrase can be used in both formal and informal situations.
Among young people or in more casual situations, you can use the shortened version ¿cuándo es tu cumple?. Below are some phase structures and some examples of how to ask this question in Spanish.
¿Cuándo + [‘ser’ conjugated] + [possessive adjective] + cumpleaños?
Sandy, ¿cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
Sandy, when is your birthday?
Oigan, chicas, ¿cuándo fue su cumpleaños?
Hey, girls, when were your birthdays?
If for some reason you need to mention the person whose birthday you want to know, you can use the following phrase structure:
¿Cuándo + [‘ser’ conjugated] + el cumpleaños + de + [subject/person]?
Mamá, ¿cuándo es el cumpleaños de mi hermano?
Mom, when is my brother’s birthday?
¿Alguien sabe cuándo es el cumpleaños de Paty?
Does anyone know when Paty’s birthday is?
Oye, ¿cuándo fue el cumpleaños de Josh?
Hey, when was Josh’s birthday?
2. ¿Cuándo cumples años? – When is your birthday?
In Spanish, the verb cumplir is used to talk about birthdays. So, when we want to ask for someone’s birthday we create a question with this verb. ¿Cuándo cumples años? is another popular way to ask for a birthday in Spanish.
Like other expressions from this list, this question is also suitable for both informal and formal situations. Notice that in order to customize this expression, you simply need to conjugate the verb ‘cumplir’ so it corresponds to the person whose birthday you’re asking about.
¿Cuándo + [‘cumplir’ conjugated] + años + (determiner) + [noun/name]?
Lizzi, ¿cuándo cumple años tu novio?
Lizzi, when is your boyfriend’s birthday?
Pá, ¿cuándo cumpleaños mi tía Mary?
Dad, when is aunt Mary’s birthday?
¿Cuándo cumplen años Sabrina y Matt?
When are Sabrina and Matt’s birthdays?
Amor, ¿sabes cuándo cumplió años Leticia?
Love, do you know when was Leticia’s birthday?
Take Note: In Spanish, the expression cumplir is used to talk about any kind of anniversaries. In other words, this verb can help you measure the number of years, weeks or months that you’ve been doing something for.
Mi esposa y yo cumplimos dos años de casados.
My wife and I have been married for two years.
Ayer cumplí cinco meses trabajando en este proyecto.
I have been working on this project for 5 months.
3. ¿Qué día es tu cumpleaños? – What day is your birthday?
¿Qué día es tu cumpleaños? is a more casual way to ask when someone’s birthday is in Spanish. As a result, this question is more suitable among friends, family members or any other informal situation. ‘¿Qué día es tu cumpleaños?’ is the direct translation of ‘what day is your birthday?’.
If you need a slightly more formal variation, you can use ¿qué día cumples años?. Below are some examples and phrase structures that you can follow. Notice that the first phrase structure is meant to be used when you’re either talking directly to the person whose birthday you need to know.
¿Qué día + [‘ser’ conjugated] + [possessive adjective] + cumpleaños]
Señora López, ¿qué día fue su cumpleaños?
Mrs. López, what day was your birthday?
David, ¿qué día es su cumpleaños?
David, what day is your birthday?
If instead, you want to ask someone about another person’s birthday, you need to use the following phrase structure.
¿Qué día + [‘ser’ conjugated] + el cumpleaños + de + [noun/name]?
Mamá, ¿qué día fue el cumpleaños de Carolina?
Mom, what day was Carolina’s birthday?
¿Qué día es el cumpleaños de Martha?
What day is Martha’s birthday?
Andy, ¿te acuerdas qué día es el cumpleaños de Ramón y Paola?
Andy, do you remember what day is Ramon’s and Paola’s birthday?
Take Note: I’m terrible at remembering people’s birthdays. If, like me, you need to ask about this over and over, there’s a little language trick that you can use. By adding the verb decir in preterite, you’re politely asking people to confirm or remind you of their birthday (in my case, it’s reminding).
¿Qué día me dijiste que cumples años?
When did you tell me your birthday was?
4. ¿Cuál es tu fecha de nacimiento? – What is your date of birth?
In Spanish, ¿cuál es tu fecha de nacimiento? is a more formal expression that you can use to ask for a person’s birthday. In fact, due to its formality, this phrase is more suitable in business and school environments, or when filling official documents.
Check the examples below so you can see how to apply this Spanish expression. Notice that the first phrase structure is used when speaking directly to the person.
¿Cuál es + [possessive adjective] + fecha de nacimiento?
Señora, ¿cuál es su fecha de nacimiento?
Madam, what’s your date of birth?
Mamá, ¿cuál es tu fecha de nacimiento?
Mom, what’s your date of birth?
Notice that you can make small adjustments to this structure to ask someone about someone else’s birthday.
¿Cuál es + la fecha de nacimiento + de + [noun]?
Anna, ¿sabés cuál es la fecha de nacimiento del Presidente?
Anna, do you know what the President’s date of birth is?
Oigan, ¿cuál es la fecha de nacimiento de Alicia?
Hey, what is Alicia’s date of birth?
5. ¿Fecha de nacimiento? – Date of Birth?
When it comes to official forms and documents, you are likely to see the term Fecha de nacimiento. This is a shortened, while still formal version of ¿cuál es tu fecha de nacimiento? Therefore, sometimes it will be asked as a question or presented as a statement or request for information on a form.
As a result, there’s no phrase structure for this, you can just use it by itself in these to phrases below:
Fecha de nacimiento
Date of birth
¿Fecha de nacimiento?
Date of birth?
Take Note: Usually when prompted for this information, the person or organization requesting the information is asking for your full date of birth, including the day, month and year. In casual conversations, most people are interested in the day and month.
How to say when your birthday is in Spanish
Now that you know how to ask for someone’s birthday in Spanish, it’s time for you to learn how to answer these previous questions. In other words, you also need to be able to say when your birthday is in Spanish.
So, in order to say when your birthday (or someone else’s) is, you can use the following structures:
- Cumplir años + date
- El + date
- Mi cumpleaños es + date
Let’s see how to customize each one of these expressions so you can properly apply them. Notice that:
- [Date] can be replaced with an actual date or a word that expresses time such as week, days, etc.
- Cumplir can be conjugated in any tense you need.
- Años can be omitted if you’re answering a direct question.
[‘Cumplir’ conjugated] + años + (determiner) + [date]
Cumplo el 24 de abril.
My birthday is on April 24.
Ale cumple años la semana que viene.
Ale’s birthday is next week.
Mis tías cumplen años este miércoles.
My aunt’s birthday is this Wednesday.
Sandy cumplió años el 8 de febrero.
Sandy’s birthday was on February 8.
If a person just asked you when your birthday (or someone’s birthday) is in Spanish, you can respond with a very short answer since the context is very clear.
(‘Ser’ conjugated) + El + [date]
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Tu amigo: ¿Cuál es su fecha de nacimiento? | Your friend: What’s your date of birth? |
| Tú: El 8 de Enero de 1980 | You: January 8, 1980. |
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Tu amigo: Sam, ¿qué día es tu cumpleaños? | Your friend: Sam, what day is your birthday? |
| Tú: Fue el jueves | You: It was on Thursday |
Take Note: Mi cumpleaños es is slightly more formal than these past options, but you can also use it as a way to let people know when your birthday is.
How to ask ‘what year were you born?’
If for some reason you need to ask people their año de nacimiento (year of birth), you can use one of the following questions.
- ¿Año de nacimiento? – Year of birth?
- ¿En qué año naciste? – What year were you born?
The first option is a more formal question that is usually used when a person is being surveyed or when filling official forms and documents. You can answer this question by simply providing your year of birth.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Tu doctor: ¿Año de nacimiento? | Your doctor: Year of birth? |
| Tú: Mil novecientos ochenta (1980). | You: Nineteen eighty (1980). |
On the other hand, ¿en qué año naciste? is slightly more informal. However, it can still be used in both formal and informal situations. Given that this expression works with a verb, you need to make sure that you conjugate it!
Since you’re referring to a specific date, usually, nacer (to be born) needs to be conjugated to preterite tense. Notice that you can also customize this expression to ask anyone’s year of birth. Here is how to do it:
¿En qué año + [‘nacer’ conjugated] + (noun)?
Manny, ¿en qué año naciste?
Manny, what year were you born?
Lupita, ¿en qué año nació mi tía Alicia?
Lupita, what year was my aunt Alicia born?
¿Saben qué año nacieron las Kardashian?
Do you guys know what year the Kardashians were born?
Take Note: In Spanish, the question ¿en qué año nace? o ¿en qué año nacieron?, can also be used to ask when an event, group or institution emerged or was born.
¿En qué año nació Amazon?
In what year Amazon was born?
Wrapping Up
Since knowing your friends, family or other people’s birthdays might be handy, in this article, we discussed 4 common expressions that you can use to ask when someone’s birthday is in Spanish.
That way you’re ready to start asking your friends about their birthdays. Before implementing these expressions, remember that some of them might be more suitable for formal situations than others. So make sure you understand what’s the best option for you.
We also saw some structures that allow you to say when your birthday or someone else’s is in Spanish and how to ask someone which year they were born. Now, you’re ready to start using these expressions when needed!
Related Resources
7 Ways to Wish a Happy Birthday in Spanish
Spanish Possessive Adjectives