Happy 65th Birtday! (In Latin)

by Mark

I recently created a birthday card for a friend with whom I always use the "Hail, Georgus" salute. In my attempt, many years after graduating from high school Latin, to express "The Senate and the Roman people wish you a happy sixty-fifth birthday" I wrote the following, which I'm sure will at least provide amusement for you and clearly displays the shortcomings of online translation engines: "Senatus populusque Romanus tibi volunt gauisum sexagesimum quintum natalim."

Kindly retranslate this correctly for me.

Much appreciated,
Mark S.


Hi Mark,

A good start, and overall not so bad. How many years has it been?

The problem with your version is gavisum, which means that the day itself is rejoicing. A better adjective here is felicem. So:

Senatus Populusque Romanus felicem tibi diem natalem sexagesimum quintum volunt.

N.B. I chose natalem over natalim as the accusative singular form. Both are correct. I also added the word diem. Also, pulling felicem to the front of the phrase emphasizes the HAPPY.

Hope this helps, and thanks for asking a Latin teacher.

Sincerely,

John

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