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Words to Say

How do you say Merry Christmas in other languages?

Merry Christmas is ¡Feliz Navidad! in Spanish, Frohe Weihnachten in German, Buon Natale in Italian, God jul in Swedish and Maligayang Pasko in Filipino. In Japanese it is メリークリスマス, a phrase borrowed from English. Below, each one is written out syllable by syllable so you can say it aloud, English included. Tap a greeting and say it with the star.

say it

¡Feliz Navidad!

tap, and follow the star

What it means
Merry Christmas (feliz means happy; Navidad means Christmas)
The reply
¡Igualmente! (the same to you), the usual answer to any good wish
When to say it
at Christmas

/feˈlis naβiˈðað/

say it

Frohe Weihnachten

tap, and follow the star

What it means
joyful Christmas (froh means joyful or happy; Weihnachten means Christmas)
When to say it
at Christmas

/ˌfʁoːə ˈvaɪ̯naxtn̩/

say it

Buon Natale

tap, and follow the star

What it means
good Christmas (buon means good; Natale means Christmas)
The reply
Grazie, altrettanto! (thanks, the same to you), the usual answer to any good wish
When to say it
at Christmas

/ˈbwɔn naˈtale/

say it

God jul

tap, and follow the star

What it means
good Yule (god means good; jul is Christmas, kept December 24 to 26)
When to say it
at Christmas

/ɡuː(d) jʉːl/

say it

Maligayang Pasko

tap, and follow the star

What it means
happy Christmas (maligaya means happy; Pasko means Christmas)
When to say it
at Christmas

/maliˌɡajaŋ pasˈko/

say it

メリークリスマス

Merī Kurisumasu

tap, and follow the star

What it means
borrowed from the English "Merry Christmas"
When to say it
at Christmas

[me̞ɾʲiː kɯ̟ɾʲisɨma̠sɨ]

say it

Merry Christmas

tap, and follow the star

What it means
merry is an old word for happy
When to say it
at Christmas

/ˈmer.i ˈkrɪs.məs/

Every greeting here has had its sounds checked against two pronunciation references, and more languages join as they are checked. Two English words have pages of their own: what the word Christmas means and why it is sometimes written Xmas.

True story

Plate VIII The reader mouse, calling out a greeting from the top of the books.

In this chapter

  1. What does the word “Christmas” mean?5 minTrue story
  2. Why is it written “Xmas”, and is it disrespectful?5 minTrue story

Where our facts come from

  1. Wiktionary, "feliz Navidad", Pronunciation section, the Latin America line
  2. SpanishDict (SpanishDictionary.com), pronunciation of "feliz navidad", LATAM row: feh - lees nah - bee - dahd, stressed syllables highlighted
  3. Cambridge Dictionary, Spanish-English, "igualmente", Headword IPA /iγwal'mente/; third sense, used as a reply to good wishes: the same to you
  4. SpanishDict (SpanishDictionary.com), "igualmente" and its pronunciation page, Sense 3, (courteous reply) the same to you; pronunciation: ee - gwahl - mehn - teh, mehn stressed
  5. Cambridge Dictionary, Spanish-English, "feliz" and "Navidad", "feliz": adjective, happy; "Navidad": noun, Christmas
  6. Wiktionary, "frohe Weihnachten", German, Pronunciation: IPA /ˌfʁoːə ˈvaɪ̯naxtn̩/; Phrase: Merry Christmas
  7. DWDS (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences), "Weihnachten", Aussprache: [ˈvaɪ̯naχtn̩]; Worttrennung Weih | nach | ten
  8. Duden online, "froh", Betonung (long stressed o); Bedeutung 1, example "(Glückwunsch zu Weihnachten) frohe Weihnachten!"
  9. Wiktionary, "buon Natale", Pronunciation: IPA /ˈbwɔn naˈta.le/
  10. Cambridge Dictionary, Italian-English, "natale" and "buono", "natale": / na'tale /, noun sense Christmas; "buono": / 'bwɔno / good
  11. Sabatini Coletti, Dizionario della lingua italiana, "altrettanto", altrettanto [al-tret-tàn-to], in replies to good wishes: "Grazie, a.!"
  12. Wiktionary, "god jul", Swedish, Pronunciation: IPA /ɡuː(d) jʉːl/, /ɡʊ jʉːl/; Phrase: Merry Christmas
  13. Lexin (KTH and the Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore), "jul" and "god", "jul": [ju:l], Uttryck "God jul!"; "god": [go:d], everyday "go" [go:]
  14. Wiktionary, "Maligayang Pasko", Pronunciation: IPA /maliˌɡajaŋ pasˈko/; syllables ma‧li‧ga‧yang Pas‧ko
  15. Diksiyonaryo.ph, "pasko" and "ligaya", "pasko": headword Pas•kó (stress on the last syllable); "ligaya": headword li•gá•ya
  16. Wiktionary, "メリークリスマス", Hepburn merī kurisumasu; IPA [me̞ɾʲiː kɯ̟ɾʲisɨma̠sɨ]
  17. Kotobank: Shogakukan, Digital Daijisen, and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, "メリー‐クリスマス", Both entries: メリー‐クリスマス (Merry Christmas), a word said to celebrate Christmas
  18. Cambridge Dictionary, "Christmas" and "merry", "Christmas": uk and us /ˈkrɪs.məs/, example "Merry/Happy Christmas!"; "merry": /ˈmer.i/, old-fashioned: happy
  19. Wiktionary, "Christmas" and "merry", English, Pronunciation: /ˈkɹɪsməs/; /ˈmɛɹi/