Nuts & Bolts: BELATED Happy Birthday vs Happy BELATED Birthday
March 8, 2024
Nuts & Bolts – BELATED Happy Birthday vs Happy BELATED Birthday
Well we’re red in the face having overlooked a particular and very common grammatical rule.
The proper grammar for the above subject is Belated Happy Birthday as the wishes are belated, not the birthday.
the details:
To wish someone a Happy Birthday after the date of their birthday, the person giving the message should say Belated Happy Birthday instead of Happy Belated Birthday. The word belated is an adjective describing a noun, in this case, the wish, not the day. The birthday is not belated; it happens every year on schedule, so don’t state Belated Birthday. What is late, or belated, is the wish for a happy birthday; hence, say, Belated ‘Happy Birthday’. Anyone who says it does not matter is absolutely incorrect.
There may be some variations (Belated Birthday Wishes, belated wishes for your birthday, etc.) If you instead insert “late” in place of “belated” it helps you see / hear it more clearly.
For newly submitted cards, this guideline will be used. We encourage artists to correct existing designs but at this time we will not be doing a mandatory site-wide return for edits.
The difference is made in the details!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
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