‘Congratulations’ is one of those basic phrases that is really useful to know in Japanese! It’s quick and easy to learn, and can be used in a variety of different situations.
The basic way to say ‘congratulations’ in Japanese is omedetou (おめでとう).
Now, depending on the situation, omedetou can be modified to sound more (or less) formal. This is done by adding different honorific prefixes and suffixes, as you will see as you read on!
Omedetou
おめでとう
Congratulations
Of course, we can use omedetou as a stand alone expression in order to give congratulations to someone.
However, it is often used in conjunction with other words/holidays in order to create celebratory phrases.
It can be similar to how we use the word ‘happy’ in English for various holidays and occasions: think ‘happy Easter’ or ‘happy birthday’.
By simply saying the name of the occasion plus omedetou, you can extend your best wishes to the other party!
For example:
Otanjoubi omedetou!
お誕生日おめでとう
おたんじょうびおめでとう
Happy birthday!
Kekkon omedetou
結婚おめでとう
けっこんおめでとう
Congratulations on your marriage
Sotsugyou omedetou
卒業おめでとう
そつぎょうおめでとう
Congratulations on graduating
Omedetou gozaimasu
おめでとうございます
Congratulations (polite)
The short and sweetness of omedetou is unfortunately just a little bit too casual to be using when speaking to someone who you are not very close with.
But don’t worry, you just need to add on the polite expression gozaimasu and you’re good to go!
So, when congratulating someone in a more formal setting, you would say the more elongated omedetou gozaimasu (おめでとうございます).
If you are congratulating someone on an event, be sure to prefix the noun with an honorific o (お) or go (ご) in order to show further respect! i.e kekkon in polite language would be gokekkon (ご結婚お / ごけっこん).
Oiwai moushiagemasu
お祝い申し上げます
Congratulations (formal)