How to say Happy Birthday in Russian!

Hello,

We get a lot of questions from English speaking people “How to say Happy Birthday in Russian?” So today we’ll answer. When someone has birthday Russians say “С Днём Рождения!“. And they pronounce it somehow like that “S dniom rajdenia!” Here are I tried my best:         

And we don’t have a song “Happy Birtday to You!” but we have a “Crocodile Gena’s Song” from cartoon “Cheburashka and Crocodile Gena”:

For our readers who wants to know more about Crocodile Gena and his song:

The 50-year-old Gena works as a crocodile in a zoo. He plays the garmon and likes to sing. His two well-known songs are “Pust’ begut neuklyushe…”
One rainy day, which happens to be his birthday, Gena sings the song “Пусть бегут неуклюже пешеходы по лужам…” (Let the pedestrians run clumsily over the puddles), which contains the line: “unfortunately, a birthday happens only once a year.” This song, written by Vladimir Shainsky, has since become known as “Crocodile Gena’s Song”. It continues to be extremely popular among Russophones of various ages and generations.

And we found a translation of the lyrics:

Пусть бегут неуклюже
Пешеходы по лужам,
А вода — по асфальту рекой.
И неясно прохожим
В этот день непогожий,
Почему я веселый такой.

Я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду…
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году.

Прилетит вдруг волшебник
В голубом вертолете
И бесплатно покажет кино.
С днем рожденья поздравит
И, наверно, оставит
Мне в подарок пятьсот «эскимо».

Я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду…
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году.

Let the pedestrians walk clumsily through the puddles
And let the water run over the asphalt in a river.
It’s unclear to the passersby,
On this rainy day,
Why I’m so happy.

But I’m playing the concertina
For all the passersby to see.
Unfortunately,
Birthdays
Only come once a year.

I wish that a wizard
Would fly in, in a light blue helicopter,
And show a movie for free.
He would wish me a happy birthday
And probably, leave as a present
500 ice cream sandwiches.

But I’m playing the concertina
For all the passersby to see.
Unfortunately,
Birthdays
Only come once a year.

For our readers who wants to know more about How to say Happy Birthday in different languages

We found the link for you where they write Happy Birthday in 161 different languages!

Watch full version of cartoons with English subtitles about Chebudarshka and Gena Crocodile:
1) Russian Video: Crocodile Gena (cartoon)!
2) Russian Video: Cheburashka (cartoon)!

And for our readers who wants to know why we publish this article today:

That’s because I have a birthday and we are going to celebrate it! We are going to Chinese Circus which is now performing in Moscow!!! :)))

Best wishes for everybody,
Svet and Kyle

comments always welcome.

3 thoughts on “How to say Happy Birthday in Russian!

  1. Anonymous

    Dear Svetlana,

    Thank you so much for the first part, it is OK and I can really sing it to the song. Please write the rest. I love this song very much!! Many thanks.

    Reply
  2. Gardaitis

    Какое мороженое “Эскимо”? Видите, в Финландии у нас тоже есть мороженое, чего зовут “Эскимо”. =D And if I managed to produce undestandable Russian, I’d be very happy =P. Oh, and the song is lovely, too!

    Reply
  3. Fernanda

    Thank you so much for this! A friend I miss really much taught me this song years ago, and it’s awfully good to be able to read and hear it again.
    Cheers from Brazil!

    Reply

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