The girl smiled happily as she received her birthday presents.

Meaning: The girl expressed joy upon receiving gifts for her birthday.

Choice of Words: Girl is a young female child. Smiled means to form a smile with the mouth, typically expressing pleasure, amusement, or approval. Happily means in a happy manner or state. Received means to take possession of something that is given or offered. Birthday is the anniversary of the day on which a person was born. Presents are gifts given to someone, especially on a special occasion.

Alternative Expressions

The girl was beaming with joy as she unwrapped her birthday gifts.

Meaning: This sentence describes a girl who is very happy to be unwrapping her birthday presents.

Choice of Words: The girl is the subject of the sentence and is the one who is beaming. Beaming is a verb that means to smile broadly and happily. With joy is a prepositional phrase that describes how the girl is beaming. As is a conjunction that connects the two clauses in the sentence. Unwrapped is a verb that means to remove the paper or wrapping from something. Her is a possessive pronoun that shows that the gifts belong to the girl. Birthday is a noun that refers to the day a person was born. Gifts is a noun that refers to the presents that people give to someone on their birthday.

The girl's face lit up with delight as she opened her birthday presents.

Meaning: This sentence describes a girl who is very happy to be opening her birthday presents.

Choice of Words: The girl's face is the subject of the sentence and is the one that lit up. Lit up is a verb that means to become bright or illuminated. With delight is a prepositional phrase that describes how the girl's face lit up. As is a conjunction that connects the two clauses in the sentence. Opened is a verb that means to remove the top or covering from something. Her is a possessive pronoun that shows that the presents belong to the girl. Birthday is a noun that refers to the day a person was born. Presents is a noun that refers to the gifts that people give to someone on their birthday.

Related Expressions