How to Say “We are celebrating a birthday” in Chinese
Greetings and politeness · HSK 3
"We are celebrating a birthday" in Chinese is 我们在庆祝生日 (Wǒmen zài qìngzhù shēngrì). Chinese has two common ways to say 'celebrate a birthday': 庆祝生日 (more formal, 'celebrate') and 过生日 (colloquial, literally 'pass/spend a birthday'). Locals almost always say 过生日 in everyday speech; 庆祝 sounds announcement-like, as if you're explaining to a waiter why the group is so loud.
Primary translation
我们在庆祝生日
Wǒmen zài qìngzhù shēngrì
Traditional: 我們在慶祝生日
Variants by register
Formal
我们正在为他庆祝生日
Wǒmen zhèngzài wèi tā qìngzhù shēngrì
Casual
我们在过生日
Wǒmen zài guò shēngrì
When to use it
Chinese has two common ways to say 'celebrate a birthday': 庆祝生日 (more formal, 'celebrate') and 过生日 (colloquial, literally 'pass/spend a birthday'). Locals almost always say 过生日 in everyday speech; 庆祝 sounds announcement-like, as if you're explaining to a waiter why the group is so loud. Cultural note: many older Chinese celebrate the lunar birthday (农历生日) rather than the solar date, and long noodles (长寿面 chángshòu miàn) are eaten instead of cake in traditional households. The 在 before the verb marks ongoing action; 'currently celebrating.'
Example sentences
不好意思，我们在庆祝生日，有点吵。
Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒmen zài qìngzhù shēngrì, yǒudiǎn chǎo.
Sorry, we're celebrating a birthday; a bit noisy.
今晚我们给爷爷庆祝生日。
Jīnwǎn wǒmen gěi yéye qìngzhù shēngrì.
Tonight we're celebrating Grandpa's birthday.
她正在过生日，我们订了蛋糕。
Tā zhèngzài guò shēngrì, wǒmen dìng le dàngāo.
She's having her birthday; we ordered a cake.