Reviewing Your Birthday Message
2025-02-28
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1Recently, our readers and listeners wrote many lovely messages about their birthdays.
2We have been reading all of them.
3Most messages are happy.
4You wrote about gifts you received, the people who celebrated with you, or where and how you celebrated.
5Some messages seemed sad. Some of you do not get to celebrate your birthdays.
6Other messages were a mix of sad and happy.
7In this week's Everyday Grammar, we are looking at Farhana's message about her birthday. She wrote:
8My birthday was on last 23 march.
9This was my 27th birthday.
10In my birthday no one wished me except my younger sister.
11And actually there was no devise for this day.
12I spent my whole day as like it is a normal day.
13Sometimes i felt sad and sometimes i wasn't.
14Let us start at the beginning. Farhana writes:
15My birthday was on last 23 march.
16We suggest changing this sentence to the present tense to say when your birthday is.
17My birthday is March 23.
18In American English, the usual order for dates is month, day, year.
19So instead of "23 March," Americans usually say "March 23."
20You used the past tense in this sentence:
21This was my 27th birthday.
22Another way we can say how old we are, is to use the past tense of the verb "turn."
23I turned 27 this year.
24Here, "turn" means to reach or pass into a new age.
25Next Farhana wrote this:
26In my birthday no one wished me except my younger sister.
27We can change the word order of this sentence to make it clearer.
28No one wished me happy birthday, except my younger sister.
29Instead of a prepositional phrase, "In my birthday," we can just start the sentence with "No one."
30"No one" is an indefinite pronoun meaning "no person." You could also use the pronoun "nobody."
31Onto the next sentence:
32And actually there was no devise for this day.
33"To devise" is a verb meaning to plan or think up something.
34You were close! But in this sentence we need a noun.
35And we find it in the definition of devise: plan.
36Actually, there was no plan for the day.
37If you wanted to use the word devise, however, you could! It would come right after "plan" in the sentence.
38Actually, there was no plan devised for the day.
39Farhana's next sentence is:
40I spent my whole day as like it is a normal day.
41We should make a few changes to this sentence.
42"As" and "like" are both used to make comparisons between nouns.
43"As" is an adverb, and "like" is a preposition.
44We only need one of these to make the comparison.
45We can say:
46I spent my whole day like it was a normal day.
47Let us look now at Farhana's last sentence:
48Sometimes i felt sad and sometimes i wasn't.
49We suggest changing this sentence to:
50Sometimes I felt sad, but other times I didn't.
51Now the two parts of the sentence agree in verb use.
52Also, We always capitalize the pronoun "I" in sentences.
53We used the conjunction "but" with "other times" only to create more contrast.
54It is also correct to write:
55Sometimes I felt sad and sometimes I didn't.
56Now, let's hear the revised message about Farhana's birthday:
57My birthday is March 23. I turned 27 this year.
58No one wished me happy birthday except my younger sister.
59Actually, there was no plan for the day.
60I spent my whole day like it was a normal day.
61Sometimes I felt sad, but other times, I didn't.
62Thank you Farhana for your message.
63We would like to wish you a happy birthday, early, for next year.
64I'm Caty Weaver.
1Recently, our readers and listeners wrote many lovely messages about their birthdays. We have been reading all of them. Most messages are happy. You wrote about gifts you received, the people who celebrated with you, or where and how you celebrated. 2Some messages seemed sad. Some of you do not get to celebrate your birthdays. Other messages were a mix of sad and happy. 3In this week's Everyday Grammar, we are looking at Farhana's message about her birthday. She wrote: 4A message from Farhana 5My birthday was on last 23 march. This was my 27th birthday. In my birthday no one wished me except my younger sister. And actually there was no devise for this day. I spent my whole day as like it is a normal day. Sometimes i felt sad and sometimes i wasn't. 6Review of Farhana's message 7Let us start at the beginning. Farhana writes: 8My birthday was on last 23 march. 9We suggest changing this sentence to the present tense to say when your birthday is. 10My birthday is March 23. 11In American English, the usual order for dates is month, day, year. So instead of "23 March," Americans usually say "March 23." 12You used the past tense in this sentence: 13This was my 27th birthday. 14Another way we can say how old we are, is to use the past tense of the verb "turn." 15I turned 27 this year. 16Here, "turn" means to reach or pass into a new age. 17Next Farhana wrote this: 18In my birthday no one wished me except my younger sister. 19We can change the word order of this sentence to make it clearer. 20No one wished me happy birthday, except my younger sister. 21Instead of a prepositional phrase, "In my birthday," we can just start the sentence with "No one." "No one" is an indefinite pronoun meaning "no person." You could also use the pronoun "nobody." 22Onto the next sentence: 23And actually there was no devise for this day. 24"To devise" is a verb meaning to plan or think up something. You were close! But in this sentence we need a noun. And we find it in the definition of devise: plan. 25Actually, there was no plan for the day. 26If you wanted to use the word devise, however, you could! It would come right after "plan" in the sentence. 27Actually, there was no plan devised for the day. 28Farhana's next sentence is: 29I spent my whole day as like it is a normal day. 30We should make a few changes to this sentence. 31"As" and "like" are both used to make comparisons between nouns. 32"As" is an adverb, and "like" is a preposition. We only need one of these to make the comparison. 33We can say: 34I spent my whole day like it was a normal day. 35Let us look now at Farhana's last sentence: 36Sometimes i felt sad and sometimes i wasn't. 37We suggest changing this sentence to: 38Sometimes I felt sad, but other times I didn't. 39Now the two parts of the sentence agree in verb use. 40Also, We always capitalize the pronoun "I" in sentences. We used the conjunction "but" with "other times" only to create more contrast. It is also correct to write: 41Sometimes I felt sad and sometimes I didn't. 42Closing thoughts 43Now, let's hear the revised message about Farhana's birthday: 44My birthday is March 23. I turned 27 this year. No one wished me happy birthday except my younger sister. Actually, there was no plan for the day. I spent my whole day like it was a normal day. Sometimes I felt sad, but other times, I didn't. 45Thank you Farhana for your message. We would like to wish you a happy birthday, early, for next year. 46I'm Caty Weaver. 47Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 48_____________________________________________________ 49Words in This Story 50indefinite - adj. unclear in meaning or detail 51devise - v. to think of; to come up with, to invent or plan 52capitalize - v. to begin (a word or name) with a capital letter 53contrast - n. a difference between things or people that are being compared 54character - n. a person who appears in a movie, book, film... 55feedback - n. the transmission of corrective information 56_______________________________________________________ 57We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 58Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.