 What does happy belated birthday mean? Hmm, of course, you know what happy birthday means, right? But what happens when you add this weird word belated between happy and birthday and it becomes happy belated birthday? This is a question I get from my students a lot because they see this all the time on Facebook comments or on YouTube comments or online in general. They see this expression happy belated birthday in this video. I'm going to tell you exactly what it means, how you can use it, and we'll review the pronunciation as well. Of course, I'm Jennifer from J4sEnglish.com and we have a birthday celebration to get to. So let's get started. You can see I'm wearing this beautiful sparkly ribbon here, a birthday ribbon. Today is November 15th. Of course, you might be watching this video a little bit later, but that's OK. This video was published on November 15th. Now, my birthday was past tense. My birthday was on November 7th. So just over a week ago. Now, imagine it's November 7th today. It's my birthday today, if it were November 7th. Of course, today, November 7th, you could say happy birthday teacher. But it's not November 7th, right? I don't have a time machine. We can't go back in time to November 7th. I can't relive my fabulous birthday all over again. Today is November 15th. Because of that, you can still wish me a happy birthday. But because my birthday is over, you have to say happy belated birthday. So that's it. It's a very simple expression. Happy belated birthday. And you use this if it's the day after somebody's birthday. So on somebody's birthday, of course, you say happy birthday. But after you say happy belated birthday. So right now, because it's November 15th, and my birthday was just over a week ago. And did you wish me a happy birthday on November 7th? Don't worry if you didn't, because you can still do it right now. Just write in the comments, practice this expression. Write in the comments, happy belated birthday, Jennifer. Happy belated birthday, Jennifer. And make sure you get the spelling right of belated, OK? So make sure you get that spelling there as well. Now, you might be wondering, is it rude to say happy belated birthday to somebody? Because doesn't that mean you forgot their birthday? And won't I be offended that you didn't say happy birthday on November 7th? And in fact, you're saying happy birthday now. Happy belated birthday, correction. You're saying happy belated birthday over a week later. No, I won't be offended. And no, it isn't rude to say happy belated birthday. It's totally acceptable. In fact, we even have an entire section of cards at your local drug store or card store that say happy belated birthday. It's just such a common thing because there could be so many reasons why you have to say happy belated birthday. For you, most likely, you didn't know it was my birthday on November 7th. I didn't tell you, right? So because of that, it's not your fault. You didn't wish me a happy birthday, right? So it's not rude. Or for example, you might have been out of town. You were on a business trip or something else was going on in your life and you just weren't able to. So it's not rude, but of course there are certain people that probably should not say happy belated birthday, right? Like maybe your boyfriend or your girlfriend or your best friend or your parents, I mean, there are certain people that we expect them to wish us a happy birthday. But in general, no, it isn't rude. So go ahead, wish me a happy belated birthday. But let's say it's December 5th, December 5th. We've jumped forward into the time. Right now it's December 5th. And I happen to just be telling you, oh, you know, in early November, I went to Spain for my birthday. So you don't know my specific date for my birthday, but you do know it was early November. And right now it's early December over a month later. So would you wish somebody a happy belated birthday over a month later? Most likely not. Generally there's about a one to two week window where it's acceptable to say happy belated birthday. After that, after one to two weeks, your birthday is over, right? And you have to wait until next year to get your birthday wishes. Now finally, let's just go over the pronunciation because this is definitely an area where pronunciation and spelling are not the same. So look at the spelling. Happy belated birthday. But then listen to the pronunciation, belated, belated, did, did. And do you hear how soft it is? I'm saying belated, belated. So the syllable that stressed is the middle syllable, belated. And I'm saying this did, did, very softly. So the pronunciation is very different than the spelling. So repeat after me, belated, belated, belated, very good. Now repeat after me, happy belated birthday. Awesome. Great job. Now you know a very useful expression that you can use with someone the day after their birthday for about a one to two week window. So remember, if you haven't already, wish me a happy belated birthday in the comments. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you found this video helpful. And remember, I promised you a little gift because we're talking about birthdays, right? And everybody deserves a gift on their birthday. So I'm going to give you a little gift, even though it's my birthday. So here I have this free speaking guide that you can download from my website, jforceenglish.com, totally free, and it will give you six easy tips to help you speak English fluently and confidently. So as a little thank you for you and a little birthday present, go download this free guide and also let me know in the comments if this was helpful for you as well to help you improve your speaking skills. All right, so hope you found this video helpful. If you did, please give it a thumbs up, tell your friends and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks so much for watching and until next time, happy studying.