analyze grammar "happy birthday to you"

Hi failed pen, and welcome. To say 'Happy birthday to you' is very similar to saying 'Merry Christmas to you.' Certain words in the expression, ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. analyzegrammar"happybirthdaytoyou" Threadstarter flailedpen Startdate Sep9,2006 F flailedpen NewMember english,USA happy:adj.describingbirthday birthday:compoundnounusedassubject to:? you:directobject Iamconfusedaboutthe"to".Itseemstoactasaverb,butIdon'tseethisinthedictionary.What,andwereis,theverb?Isthisasentence?   Bil Banned EnglishUSA Hifailedpen,andwelcome. Tosay'Happybirthdaytoyou'isverysimilartosaying'MerryChristmastoyou.'Certainwordsintheexpression,thoughunderstood,gounsaid:'(I/wewisha)happybirthdaytoyou.' So,'happybirthday'istheobjectwithanadjective,andtheword'to'isapreposition.   F flailedpen NewMember english,USA ThanksBill.Anunstatedsubjectandandanunstatedverbsuggestthisisintheformofacommand.Whenwewishsomeoneahappybirthdayoramerrychristmas,arewecommanding?   Setwale_Charm SeniorMember movingaround-aBritwho'shardlyeverlivedin BritishEnglish,Russian Theverb"be"has"fallenout"withtime.Itusedtobesimilarto"peacebetoyou".or"lettherebe...".   Brioche SeniorMember Adelaide AustraliaEnglish flailedpensaid: ThanksBill.Anunstatedsubjectandandanunstatedverbsuggestthisisintheformofacommand.Whenwewishsomeoneahappybirthdayoramerrychristmas,arewecommanding? Clicktoexpand... Wearenotcommanding. Compare"Haveaniceday". It'snotacommand,it'sawish:"Ihopethatyouhaveaniceday". or "GoodMorning". We'renotcommentingontheweather. We'resaying"Ihopethatyouhaveagoodmorning". "HappyBirthdaytoyou" MywishisthataHappyBirthdaybegiventoyou   W Wishfull Banned Japanese Hi. Ihappentothinkaboutthewholesentenceof"happybirthdaytoyou". AndIfoundthisthreadtoday. Howaboutmyinterpretationofthewholesentence? Mytryis; Iwishitwouldbeahappybirthdaytoyou. Isthiscorrect?   M mplsray SeniorMember Minneapolis,MinnesotaUSA English,USA Wishfullsaid: Hi. Ihappentothinkaboutthewholesentenceof"happybirthdaytoyou". AndIfoundthisthreadtoday. Howaboutmyinterpretationofthewholesentence? Mytryis; Iwishitwouldbeahappybirthdaytoyou. Isthiscorrect? Clicktoexpand... Thespeakerdoesindeedwishthatthepersonbeingaddressedhasahappybirthday. Theformlikelystartedoutasubjunctive,"Haveahappybirthday!"Notethatthisisnotacommand,nordoesitusetheword"may"("may"asaquasi-subjunctiveformcamelaterthanthesubjunctiveusedinthisway).RedSkeltonusedtothinkthat"Godbless!"wasacommand,buthewaswrong--it'sanotheruseofthesubjunctive,forwhichhisreplacement"MayGodbless!"merelyrestatesthesentiment. Peoplemightsay,"Atoasttoyou."Mytakeonitisthat"Happybirthdaytoyou!"consistsofashorteningof"Haveahappybirthday!"withtheadditionof"toyou"toindicatethatthesentimentisbeingofferedtothepersonbeinghonored--whichwouldnotbenecessaryif"Havea"hadbeenkeptinthesentence.   natkretep Moderatoconanima(EnglishOnly) Singapore English(Singapore/UK),basicChinese Ilikemplspray'sexplanation.Initially,Ithoughtofitasellipsisof'Wewish...'(asin#2),butnowIfinditmoreconvincingthatthiswasoriginallyasubjunctive(like'Godblessyou'and'Haveaniceday').   M MrMoto SeniorMember Ottawa,Ontario Canada,English Forthesamereason,youcanreplyto"goodmorning"with"andgoodmorningtoyou!"   W Wishfull Banned Japanese Thankyouall. Icanunderstandsomeparts,andIcan'totherparts. Iwillreadseveraltimes,andyet,ifIdon'tunderstand,Iwillaskyouagain. Thanks.   se16teddy SeniorMember LondonbutfromYorkshire English-England Iagreewithmplsraythatasubjunctiveverbisomitted.Otherexpressionswhichdropasubjunctivebeare -Powertothepeople! -GlorytoGodintheheighest! whereasthebeisexpressedin -GlorybetotheFatherandtotheSonandtotheHolyGhost... IwonderwhethertheseexpressionsomittingbearecalquesfromLatin,whichcommonlyomitsitsverbtobe.   Lastedited:Jun25,2009 panjandrum LapsedModerator Belfast,Ireland English-Ireland(topend) Happybirthdaybetoyou? Interesting.   Loob SeniorMember EnglishUK I'masimplesoul. Forme,it'sanabbreviatedversionof"[Isendmybestwishesfora]HappyBirthdaytoYou.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top