By sophiemcdonald Last updated: May 21, 2023

8 Ways to Say Congratulations in French

Learning French is no mean feat, and you’ve had the courage to stick with it all the way over to this article.

So what better way to drive this home than to discover how we can express our congratulations in French?

Let’s get ready to learn a little more and celebrate, with one important note: Don’t forget to bring the champagne!

Congratulations for Any Situation
- Félicitations ! (Congratulations!)
Formal Congratulations
Informal Congratulations
Congratulating Yourself
- Se féliciter (To Congratulate Oneself)
What to Say After Congratulations
Specific Congratulations
What to Do When Stuck Between Informal and Formal Congratulations

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Congratulations for Any Situation

Let’s take a look at the standard phrase for “congratulations” in French:

Félicitations ! (Congratulations!)

Easy, right?

How about the pronunciation?

Well, félicitations is a perfect example of a word that includes the French nasal sound “õ”—one of four more “unusual” vowel sounds for English speakers.

This short sound is best learned by doing a lot of listening or even practicing through specific exercises that focus on “õ,” which will allow you to spot it in other words and show you where to expect it.

Formal Congratulations

Use the following phrases when you need to curb your enthusiasm, including professional situations and in writing.

Féliciter (To Congratulate)

As in English, to congratulate someone in a formal way either in speech or writing, we can simply use the verb “to congratulate” or féliciter in French.

Je vous félicite pour l’obtention de votre doctorat.
I congratulate you for receiving your PhD.

Tous mes compliments / Tous nos compliments (Sincere Congratulations)

This is a very formal way to express your congratulations in French, and even though it’s possible to hear people say it, it’s equally common in writing to someone you don’t know well or in a professional situation.

Tous mes compliments pour votre rapport.
Sincere congratulations on your report.

Je tiens à vous féliciter pour… (I Must/Should Congratulate You for…)

This is when, in a formal situation, you want to really emphasize your congratulations to someone else. You might say this if someone made a great achievement or benefited a group of people working towards the same goal.

Je tiens à vous féliciter pour votre dévouement à l’entreprise.
I must congratulate you for your dedication to the company.

Informal Congratulations

The next phrases are for congratulating people you know well.

It’s important to remember that sometimes, there’s an undefinable overlap in terms of what one would describe as “informal” and “slang.” If you aren’t sure when to use some of these, you can watch these words being used by native speakers with the FluentU program.

The good news is, none of the terms or phrases in this list are inherently offensive.

Bravo ! (Congratulations/Well Done!)

Bravo is probably the most standard of the informal ways to say “congratulations” in French, and it’s something you’ll hear a lot. Like félicitations, you can use it in most situations.

Let’s look at a dialogue:

Je viens de réussir mon examen.
I’ve just passed my exam.

Bravo !
Congratulations/well done!

Chapeau ! (Congratulations/Well Done/lit. Hats off to You!)

Chapeau is arguably more old-fashioned than bravo and slightly less versatile. It’s often used to say congratulations for minor successes, such as resolving an argument or cooking a tasty meal.

Les soufflés sont parfaits !
The soufflés are perfect!

Chapeau ! Ils ont l’air savoureux.
Congratulations! They look tasty.

French friends have occasionally sent me a hat emoji when I’ve told them about something successful in my life, so this is a modern interpretation to look out for!

Bien joué ! (Congratulations/Well Done/ lit. Well Played!)

As you might expect, bien joué can relate to the world of sports in the same way it does in English.

But it can also be used whenever you want to say congratulations to someone in a very informal context; particularly when wanting to compliment them on the way they did something.

J’ai fait descendre le chaton de l’arbre sans lui faire de mal.
I brought down the kitten from the tree without hurting him.

Ouf, bien joué !
Phew, well done!

You’ll often hear bien joué said ironically, so if you think someone isn’t really congratulating you, they probably aren’t!

Congratulating Yourself

Se féliciter (To Congratulate Oneself)

You’ve already seen the verb “to congratulate” in French. Now all we need to do is add se (to oneself) before féliciter to create a reflexive verb in the infinitive.

Reflexive verbs are common in French and in this case, refer to when you’re talking about an action of which you’re the receiving party.

In the first person present tense this is:

Je me félicite !
I congratulate myself!

For example:

Je me félicite pour la réalisation de mon projet !
I’m giving myself a pat on the back for the completion of my project!

What to Say After Congratulations

You may be struggling to work out which word to use after “congratulations” in French. No worries!

If you want to say congratulations to somebody, in French you use the preposition à :

Félicitations à ton frère !
Congratulations to your brother!

And if you want to say congratulations on or for something, you use the preposition pour :

Félicitations pour ton nouveau travail ! Tu commences quand ?
Congratulations on your new job! When do you start?

Specific Congratulations

Another way to say congratulations is to use the adjective bon (good) before a noun—especially when you’re wanting to congratulate someone on something specific. For example:

Bon travail les gars !
Good work, guys!

Bonne réussite !
Great success!

Note: the masculine bon becomes bonne before a feminine noun.

What to Do When Stuck Between Informal and Formal Congratulations

Although not true 100% of the time, a helpful way to test whether “congratulations” in French is either informal or formal is to look at its length. You may have noticed that the shorter ones tend to be informal and the longer ones formal.

The other thing to keep in mind is that French is spoken in many countries outside of France. So if you’re planning to visit a French-speaking country that isn’t France, remember there’s also a cultural part to play. They might not use the same slang or informal ways to say “congratulations.”

The French are arguably more blasé (blasé/indifferent) when it comes to showing excitement, and you might find that some individuals won’t express themselves in the same way you’d expect in your own country. Just something to bear in mind.

Well done for reaching the end of this article!

As we’ve seen, saying congratulations in French can be tricky to navigate as it breaches both worlds of informal and formal. Yet with practice, this will become second nature and with time you’ll know exactly how to express your congratulations in French in all manner of situations!