How do you say it in Italian?
Buon anniversario
Buon anniversario is how you most commonly translate happy anniversary in Italian.
| Buon anniversario! | Happy anniversary! |
If you are somewhat familiar with Italian, you will know that buono means good. So why did we drop its final -o here? Anniversario is a masculine word, so it should be buono anniversario, right?
Well, you may not know about this pesky rule: buono gets truncated as buon when…
- it precedes a vowel
- it precedes a consonant + vowel cluster or consonant + R/L
For example, we will say…
| Buon amico | Good friend |
| Buon libro | Good book |
| Buon premio | Good prize |
So we say: buon anniversario!
| Alla mia adorata moglie, buon anniversario! | To my darling wife, happy anniversary! |
Now let’s see another way you can say happy anniversary in Italian.
Felice anniversario
You can also say felice anniversario, literally translating happy anniversary.
| Felice anniversario! | Happy anniversary! |
What difference is there between the two forms? None. It’s up to your taste to choose either, but as a native, I’d say that felice anniversario is just a bit more uncommon than buon anniversario.
Felice anniversario is the form you would find on a gift card, for example. In everyday speech, buon anniversario is more common and spontaneous.
Wedding anniversary in Italian
The most common kind of anniversary in Italian is of course the wedding anniversary.
| Anniversario di matrimonio | Wedding anniversary |
| Oggi è il nostro anniversario di matrimonio. | Today is our wedding anniversary. |
| Tom e Mary hanno appena festeggiato il loro anniversario d’argento. | Tom and Mary just celebrated their silver anniversary. |
| L’anniversario d’oro si celebra quando due persone sono sposate da cinquant’anni. | A golden wedding anniversary is when two people have been married for fifty years. |
Silver and gold anniversary are most commonly known in Italy as nozze d’argento and nozze d’oro.
Other examples with the word anniversary in Italian
If you need other examples with the word for anniversary in Italian, here they are!
| Cosa ti ha regalato il tuo ragazzo per il vostro anniversario? | What did your boyfriend give you for your anniversary? |
| Si è dimenticato dell’anniversario di matrimonio. | He forgot his wedding anniversary. |
| Lorenzo non dimentica mai di regalare fiori alla moglie per il loro anniversario di matrimonio. | Lorenzo never forgets to give his wife flowers on their wedding anniversary. |
| Pochissime persone sono state invitate a festeggiare l’anniversario della coppia. | Very few people have been invited to celebrate the anniversary of the couple. |
| Un anniversario di nozze d’argento celebra 25 anni di matrimonio. | A silver wedding anniversary celebrates 25 years of marriage. |
And that’s it, now you know how to say happy anniversary in Italian in all its forms!
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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