feliz cumpleaños atrasado
/feliθ kumpleaɲos atɾasado/from spelling rules
feliz cumpleaños atrasado is the Spanish phrase for belated happy birthday.
This phrase is used to wish someone a happy birthday after their actual birth date has already passed. When writing this as an exclamation, it is common in Spanish to include opening and closing exclamation marks, as in ¡Feliz cumpleaños atrasado! to convey enthusiasm.
How does it change in a sentence?
If you choose to use the noun felicidades (congratulations) instead of feliz cumpleaños, the adjective must change to the feminine plural form atrasadas to match the noun, resulting in felicidades atrasadas.
How do you pronounce it?
/feliθ kumpleaɲos atɾasado/
Did you know?
- The word cumpleaños is actually a verb-object compound where the verb cumple means 'to fulfill' or 'to complete'.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the greeting felicidades is used more frequently than feliz cumpleaños because it congratulates the person on the achievement of reaching another year of life.
- While it is a polite greeting for a late wish, calling a person atrasado can be an insult, implying they are 'backward' or 'behind the times'.
Examples in context
- ¡Feliz cumpleaños atrasado, Juan!Belated happy birthday, Juan!
- Te deseo un feliz cumpleaños atrasado.I wish you a belated happy birthday.
- ¡Mil disculpas, pero feliz cumpleaños atrasado!A thousand apologies, but belated happy birthday!
Example conversation
Mateo calls Sofía to apologize for missing her birthday party.
- Mateo¡Hola Sofía! ¡Feliz cumpleaños atrasado!Hi Sofía! Belated happy birthday!
- Sofía¡Muchas gracias, Mateo! Qué detallista eres.Thank you so much, Mateo! You are so thoughtful.
- MateoLo siento, se me pasó la fecha.I'm sorry, I missed the date.
- SofíaNo te preocupes, de verdad.Don't worry, really.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries atrasado, cumpleaños, feliz, CC BY-SA 4.0.
