Congratulations in Spanish: Phrases For Every Occasion

Whether it’s for a birthday, wedding, congratulating your amigo for getting that job promotion, or other, knowing how to say congratulations in Spanish will come in useful.

In addition to the obvious words like ¡Felicidades! and ¡Felicitaciones! there are other phrases that you should know to congratulate someone for their achievements.

Although ¡Felicidades! and ¡Felicitaciones! are used to express the same desire for joy and happiness, both are used slightly differently.

¡Felicidades! should be used for life events such as weddings, anniversaries, births, etc.

• ¡Felicidades por tu cumpleaños! – Happy Birthday!

• ¡Felicidades por el nacimiento de tu hijo! – Congratulations on the birth of your son!

• ¡Felicidades por sus 10 años de matrimonio! – Congratulations on your 10 years of marriage!

The term ¡Felicitaciones! is used in a context where the merits and achievements of a person are praised – for example, graduations, promotions, buying a new house or vehicle etc. The expression ¡Felicitaciones! recognizes the results of good actions.

Finally, you may have also heard the expression ¡Enhorabuena!

It’s an expression that is most commonly used in Spain than in Latin America, and means the same as ¡Felicitaciones!

In other words, it is used to congratulate someone for achievements as a result of a great personal effort.

• ¡Enhorabuena por tu nuevo trabajo! – Congratulations on your new job!

• Supe que tu tesis fue la mejor, ¡Enhorabuena! – I knew your thesis was the best, congratulations!

Before we continue, you should keep in mind that some of the below vocab and phrases don’t have exact English translations, which explains why some of them may sound strange.

Most Commonly Used Words

Celebrating birthdays and new borns!

Celebrating weddings, engagements and anniversaries

Celebrating holidays

Celebrating a promotion, or an academic/personal achievements

Celebrating a new house or vehicle