How to Say Congratulations in Spanish

Your friend just texted that she got the job. Or your cousin just got engaged. Or a classmate just walked across the graduation stage. In English, one word covers every one of those moments: "Congratulations!" In Spanish, reaching for just one word isn't quite that simple — and picking the wrong one can make a warm moment feel slightly off, the way "nice job" sounds strange at someone's wedding.

Why Congratulations Isn't One-Size-Fits-All in Spanish

This is exactly the kind of everyday phrase textbooks gloss over with a single translation and move on, but it comes up constantly once you're actually speaking Spanish with real people — a coworker's promotion, a friend's new baby, a cousin's quinceañera (fifteenth-birthday celebration), a wedding you're actually attending instead of reading about in a textbook dialogue. Spanish splits "congratulations" across a handful of words that differ by how formal the occasion is and, in one case, which side of the Atlantic you're standing on. Get the right one and you sound like someone who's actually spent time around Spanish speakers, not someone reciting a phrasebook entry.

Felicidades vs. Felicitaciones: The Everyday Choice

The two words you'll reach for most often are felicidades (congratulations) and felicitaciones (congratulations), and while they're often used interchangeably, there's a real difference in how native speakers lean on each one.

Key Phrases

• Felicidades (feh-lee-see-DAH-dess) — congratulations / happy [occasion]
• Felicitaciones (feh-lee-see-tah-syoh-nehs) — congratulations
• ¡Te felicito! (teh feh-lee-SEE-toh) — I congratulate you!
• ¡Bien hecho! (byen eh-CHOH) — well done!

[AUDIO: felicidades] [AUDIO: felicitaciones] [AUDIO: te felicito]

Felicidades is the broader, more casual word — it's what you'd say for a birthday, a holiday well-wish, or any happy occasion where you're celebrating with someone rather than praising an accomplishment. Felicitaciones, by contrast, leans toward recognizing something someone actually did — passing an exam, landing a job, finishing a race — and it's the word you'll hear most across Latin America for that kind of achievement-based congratulating. Both are completely safe in casual conversation; the distinction is closer to a shade of meaning than a hard rule.

Grammar Note

Felicidades is grammatically the plural of felicidad (happiness) — you're wishing someone a whole stack of happinesses, not just one — while felicitaciones comes from the verb felicitar (to congratulate). That's why ¡Te felicito!, using the verb directly, works as a more personal, first-person alternative to either noun.

Enhorabuena: The Word You'll Hear in Spain

Key Phrases

• Enhorabuena (en-oh-rah-BWEH-nah) — congratulations
• ¡Enhorabuena por el nuevo trabajo! — congratulations on the new job!
• Mi más sincera enhorabuena — my most sincere congratulations

[AUDIO: enhorabuena]

In Spain, enhorabuena — literally "in a good hour" — is the default word for congratulating someone on a specific accomplishment, doing much of the job felicitaciones does in Latin America: a new job, a passed exam, an engagement, a new house. It's not unknown in Latin America, but it reads as noticeably more formal there, even a little foreign — so speaking with someone from Mexico, Colombia, or Argentina, felicidades or felicitaciones will sound more natural.

Regional flag: this split works like the more familiar coche (Spain) versus carro (Latin America) — but reaching for the "wrong side's" word here doesn't sound incorrect, just slightly out of place, the way a British "brilliant!" would land a little oddly in an American conversation.

Building a Bigger Wish: Que + Subjunctive

Grammar Note

A plain "congratulations" is often just the opening line — Spanish speakers love extending the wish with que (may) plus a verb in the subjunctive, the mood Spanish reaches for whenever you're expressing a hope or a blessing rather than stating a fact. The pattern is simple once you see it: que + a subjunctive verb, tacked onto or used instead of felicidades.

• Que te vaya muy bien. (May it go very well for you.)
• Que sigas cosechando éxitos. (May you keep reaping successes.)
• Que Dios te bendiga. (May God bless you.)
• ¡Que sean muy felices! (May you both be very happy! — the standard wedding line.)

Common mistakes:

• Reaching for the indicative instead of the subjunctive after que — "que te va bien" sounds off to a native ear, the same way "I hope you are well" would sound strange with the wrong verb form in English; a wish needs the subjunctive (vaya, not va).
• Forgetting that the verb has to agree with who you're wishing it for — que sean muy felices for a couple, but que seas muy feliz for one person.

Congratulating for Weddings, Babies, and Graduations

Key Phrases

• Felicidades por tu graduación (feh-lee-see-DAH-dess pohr too grah-dwah-see-OHN) — congratulations on your graduation
• Felicidades por el bebé (feh-lee-see-DAH-dess pohr el beh-BEH) — congratulations on the baby
• Felicidades a los novios (feh-lee-see-DAH-dess ah lohs NOH-byohs) — congratulations to the newlyweds
• Felicitaciones por el ascenso (feh-lee-see-tah-syoh-nehs pohr el ah-SEHN-soh) — congratulations on the promotion

[AUDIO: felicidades por tu graduación] [AUDIO: felicidades a los novios]

Occasion matters here more than it does in English. For a promotion or an exam, felicitaciones (or enhorabuena, in Spain) sounds like you're actually praising the effort. For a wedding, felicidades a los novios is the standard line, though you'll also hear the que-plus-subjunctive wish ¡que sean muy felices! said right alongside it, almost as a matching pair. For a new baby, plain felicidades covers it everywhere, with enhorabuena as the Spain-specific alternative.

At a Colombian wedding, the toast rarely stops at felicidades. As the couple cuts the cake or takes their first dance, guests often break into a chant of "¡Que vivan los novios!" (long live the newlyweds!), raising their glasses together on vivan — itself a subjunctive form of vivir (to live). It's the same wish-making grammar as que sean muy felices, just shouted instead of spoken.

Putting It Into Practice

Picture yourself at a graduation party in Lima, toasting with chicha morada (a purple-corn drink) on the patio. You'd raise your glass and say "¡Felicidades por tu graduación!" — the safe, warm, all-purpose choice. If the graduate's brother mentions he just got promoted, that calls for the sharper "¡Felicitaciones por el ascenso!", recognizing the specific accomplishment. And if someone toasts the whole family with "¡Que sigan cosechando éxitos!" (may you all keep reaping successes), you'll know exactly what grammar is doing the work — a wish, not a statement, which is why it's in the subjunctive.

Practice Exercises

• Fill in the blank: for a friend's birthday, the more natural word is ___ (felicidades / felicitaciones).
• Fill in the blank: for passing a difficult exam, Latin American speakers would more often say ___, while someone from Spain might say ___ (felicitaciones / enhorabuena).
• Translate to Spanish using the subjunctive: "May you be very happy" (to one person, tú).
• Multiple choice: which is correct — "que te vaya bien" or "que te va bien"?
• Translate to Spanish: "Congratulations on the baby!"
• Fill in the blank: at a wedding toast, guests might shout "¡Que ___ los novios!" (vivir, subjunctive plural)

Answer Key

• Felicidades — birthdays and general happy occasions lean toward the broader word.
• Felicitaciones (Latin America) and enhorabuena (Spain) — both recognize a specific accomplishment, split by region.
• "Que seas muy feliz." — seas is the subjunctive, singular tú form.
• "Que te vaya bien" is correct — a wish after que takes the subjunctive, not the indicative va.
• "¡Felicidades por el bebé!"
• "¡Que vivan los novios!" — vivan is the subjunctive plural of vivir.

Key Takeaways

• Felicidades is the broad, all-purpose word for any happy occasion; felicitaciones (Latin America) and enhorabuena (Spain) lean specifically toward recognizing an actual accomplishment.
• Extend a plain congratulations into a real wish with que + the subjunctive — que te vaya bien, que sean muy felices — the same grammar pattern Spanish uses for hopes and blessings generally.
• Which word lands best shifts by occasion and by region, but felicidades is always a safe, warm default no matter who you're talking to.

Ready to make felicidades and que sean muy felices feel automatic? Try a round of Exercises built around Spanish wishes and the subjunctive, or browse Vocabulary for more everyday phrases like this one.