Are you wondering whether to say ‘congratulations for’ or ‘congratulations on’? And are you wondering which one is correct? We’ll answer that in this article, plus teach you how to use the correct phrase in a sentence.
Need a quick answer? Here it is:
In some cases, you can use the phrases interchangeably. The most common of the two phrases is ‘congratulations on.’
So, should you tell someone ‘congratulations on’ their engagement or for their engagement?
The former makes the most sense.
It sounds a little awkward to say ‘congratulations for’ your engagement.
Saying ‘on’ makes more sense and is grammatical.
We know that ‘congratulations on’ is the most acceptable way to express this sentiment.
However, we learned that ‘congratulations for’ isn’t really correct, although some people try to use it anyway.
But what about ‘congratulations to’? Well, in some cases, it might be acceptable.
For example, you might say to someone:
“Congratulations to you on your promotion! You deserve it!”
Or, you might say:
“Congratulations to the senior class of 2023!”
Therefore, it’s okay to say ‘congratulations for’ and ‘congratulations to.’
While ‘congratulations for’ isn’t as widely used, you might still hear people say, ‘congratulations for getting an A!” or something similar.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of congratulations is:
Essentially, you tell someone congratulations whenever they’ve achieved something, such as graduating high school or college, getting engaged or married, or getting a promotion at work.
You might also congratulate someone on the birth of their baby or after a pregnancy announcement.
After Ben’s baby is born in the movie Knocked Up, one of his friends says:
“Congratulations, Daddy! We got a beautiful little girl!” after he announced the birth.
Congratulations are a great way to show someone you’re proud of them or their achievements. It shows support for a friend or family member.
But it could also be used sarcastically. In that case, it would have an opposite meaning, meaning you have nothing to be proud of, or you should be ashamed of yourself.
In Role Models, Danny tells the barista that their coffees are labeled wrong and then says:
“Congratulations! You’re stupid in three languages.”
Do you need help pronouncing this phrase? Here’s a short guide.
Now that you know how to pronounce the phrase and what it means, let’s see some examples of how to use it in a sentence.
To recap, we learned that:
In some cases, you can use the phrases interchangeably. However, the most common of the two phrases is ‘congratulations on.’
If you ever need help with something, you can always come back to review what you learned. We’ve got a ton of content on confusing words and phrases you might want to check out while learning the language. Go browse and see what you find.
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