Similarly, when we receive a card saying belated happy birthday, we should think of belated as qualifying the whole of happy birthday, rather than just birthday.
If you say "happy birthday" a day late, it's a "belated happy birthday". What about when you say it one day early? Is there a single word fitting this definition?
Yahoo: UGH! Forgot Someone’s Big Day? We’ve Got You Covered With 125 Belated Birthday Wishes and Messages
UGH! Forgot Someone’s Big Day? We’ve Got You Covered With 125 Belated Birthday Wishes and Messages
Many people greet me " Many more happy returns of the day" on my birthday. I thought it is grammatically wrong. Can we use "many" and "more" at a time in a sentence. I thought that it is correct to greet "Many happy returns of the day". Are the given below sentences grammatically correct? 1) Many more happy returns of the day. 2) Many many happy returns of the day.
Belated as they may be The above is not a complete sentence. Normally, such phrases are the middle of a complete sentence or the end of a complete sentence. For example: Please accept my commiserations, belated as they may be. The adjective " belated " is used to describe the nature of the subject such as the noun " commiseration " in the example above. The phrase " as they may be " is used to ...
There is nothing in the English language, per se, that requires you to use any construction including words to the effect of "in advance" or "belated". English speakers are free to use the words that fit both their mood and the occasion (and the same goes for written communication), whether it's formal or informal. As an aside, using formulaic language can tend to diminish the apparent ...