Congratulations in Spanish: Phrases For Every Occasion
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More infoWhether 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
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Felicidades! | Congratulations! |
| ¡Felicitaciones! | Congratulations! |
| ¡Estoy feliz por ti! | I’m happy for you! |
| ¡Te felicito! | I congratulate you! |
| ¡Que alegrÃa esta noticia! | What a joy this news! |
| ¡Salud! | Cheers! |
| ¡Muchas felicidades! | Big congratulations! |
| ¡Enhorabuena! | Congratulations |
Celebrating birthdays and new borns!
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Feliz cumpleaños! | Happy Birthday! |
| ¡Que tus buenos deseos se cumplan este año! | May your good wishes come true this year! |
| ¡Felicidades a los nuevos padres! | Congratulations to the new parents! |
| ¡Bienvenido al mundo bebé! | Welcome to the world baby! |
| ¡Felicidad para el recién nacido! | Happiness to the newborn |
Celebrating weddings, engagements and anniversaries
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Felicidades en esta nueva etapa de sus vidas! | Congratulations on this new phase of your lives! |
| ¡Felicidades por su boda! | Congratulations on your wedding! |
| ¡Feliz aniversario! | Happy Anniversary! |
| ¡Les deseo lo mejor en su vida de casados! | I wish you the best in your married life! |
| ¡Que el amor siga presente en sus vidas! | May love remains present in their lives! |
| ¡Acabo de enterarme que se comprometieron, Muchas felicidades! | I just found out that you got engaged, congratulations! |
Celebrating holidays
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Felices Pascuas! | Happy Easter! |
| ¡Feliz navidad! | Merry Christmas! |
| ¡Feliz año nuevo! | Happy New Year! |
| ¡Feliz dÃa de la independencia! | Happy Independence Day! |
| ¡Felices fiestas! | Happy Holidays! |
| ¡Feliz dÃa de la madre! | Happy Mother’s Day! |
| ¡Feliz dia del padre! | Happy Father’s Day! |
| ¡Feliz dÃa del niño! | Happy Children’s Day! |
| ¡Feliz dÃa de la mujer! | Happy Women’s Day! |
Celebrating a promotion, or an academic/personal achievements
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Felicidades por tu ascenso! | Congratulations on your promotion! |
| ¡Bien merecido tu nuevo cargo! | Well deserved your new position! |
| ¡SabÃa que lo lograrÃas! | I knew you would make it! |
| ¡Te auguro mucho éxito! | I wish you a lot of success! |
| ¡Eres el mejor, felicidades! | You are the best, congratulations! |
| ¡Enhorabuena! Fuiste elegido como el empleado del año | Congratulations!! You were chosen as the employee of the year |
Celebrating a new house or vehicle
| Spanish | English |
| ¡Felicitaciones por tu nueva casa! | Congratulations on your new house! |
| Todo esfuerzo tiene su recompensa, felicitaciones por tu primer auto | Every effort has its reward, congratulations on your first car |
| Tener una vivienda propia es un logro muy grande. ¡Enhorabuena! | Having a home of your own is a very big achievement. Congratulations! |
| Cosas buenas le pasan a las personas buenas. Felicitaciones por tu nueva casa | Good things happen to good people. Congratulations on your new house |
| ¡Enhorabuena por tu nuevo auto! Disfrutalo mucho | Congratulations on your new car! Enjoy it |
