daan3 san4誕辰诞辰
Jyutpingdaan3 san4
Yaledaan sàhn
Definition
The birthday of an important or respected figure.
writtenpeopletime
How it's used
Reserved exclusively for the birthdays of historical figures, deities, or royalty, this term carries a formal and respectful weight. It is never used for friends, family members, or colleagues, where the standard term 生日 is required. Using this for a regular person would sound overly dramatic or comical.
Examples
Next week is the Buddha's birthday.
Do you know when Confucius's birthday is?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly use this for their own birthday or a friend's birthday, which sounds highly unnatural and pretentious.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Aspect markersCantonese has no tenses, but it does have aspect markers. Learn how zo2, gwo3, gan2, and hai2 dou6 show completion, experience, and ongoing action.
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
