"Congratulations" in Spanish
Congratulations in Spanish: How to Say Congratulations
There are three direct translations for congratulations in Spanish. We can say: enhorabuena, felicidades, or felicitaciones. Note that felicitaciones is used more commonly in Latin America than it is in Spain.
Learn more about the mundo hispanohablante(Spanish-speaking world) with this article!
How can we use these three phrases in context? Let’s take a look:
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Congratulations and the Vocative Comma
Wait, what’s a vocative comma? In short, it’s the comma that we use to separate a word from the person being addressed directly. We use the vocative comma in both English and Spanish. For example:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Hola, Dra. Carpintero. | Hello, Dr. Carpintero. |
| Llama a mi madre, Yoli. | Call my mother, Yoli. |
| Enhorabuena, Teo. | Congratulations, Teo. |
Our article on advanced Spanish punctuation gives us a particularly shocking example of why the coma vocativa(vocative comma) is so important. For example, check out how the vocative comma changes the meaning of the following sentences:
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As you can see, the vocative comma is important.
Congratulations in Spanish: What About Congrats?
Congratulations is a mouthful in English, so English speakers often shorten it to congrats. But what about Spanish? How do you say congrats in Spanish?
You say congrats the same way you would say congratulations in Spanish. There is no common shortened way to say enhorabuena, felicitaciones, or felicidades like there is in English.
Congratulations in Spanish: Congratulations On Your…
When we’re congratulating someone, we often specify what we are congratulating them for. Let’s check out how we can talk about specific events for which congratulations may be due:
Enhorabuena / Felicidades / Felicitaciones por…
Note that the previous table used tu, the informal way to say your. If you need to address someone in a formal context, simply use su!
Congratulations in Spanish: Beyond Congratulations
Let’s take a look at some other terms and phrases that are similar to congratulations.
Note that, although you can say buena partida in Spanish, it’s quite possible that your Spanish-speaking opponent will use GG, just like you would in English. That’s because much of the la jerga gamer(gamer slang) in Spanish has been directly adopted from English, with little or no changes! These words are called loanwords. You can read all about loanwords in Spanish in this article!
In Spain, you can use the word chapó to express that you are impressed with someone’s actions. Does the word chapó sound familiar? If you’ve ever studied French, it should!
Although chapeau does mean hat in French, it can also be used to congratulate someone. In this case, the rough translation of chapeau! would be hats off to or congratulations.
Well, chapó to you! You’ve taken some time today to learn all about how to say congratulations in Spanish. That’s impressive work. ¡Así se hace!
You’re on a roll today with your Spanish. Why not take some more time to learn other useful vocabulary and phrases? Take a look at these articles to learn more:
