The French word "Félicitations" explained

Get prepared to learn everything you have to know about the basic French word “Félicitations”.

Including a detailed definition of what it is and how to use it in everyday life with an audio example. And because we want you to make progress in French, we also added some useful informations like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonyms and more!

Oh and in case you are interested, on this page you will find our others words tutorials plus all our content about French words on this page. Wish you a happy learning!

Table of Contents

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Translation in English

Audio pronunciation

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does félicitations mean?

Definition

This word is the easiest way to say someone “Congratulations” in French. This is the plural form of “Félicitation“, we use the plural because when you congratulate someone, what you imply is “I’m giving you my congratulations“.

Use it when you want to congratulate someone about an achievement, a success or an important step of their life. This typically includes: having a kid, wedding, promotion, business success, buying a house, etc.

How to use it

When someone around you is achieving something and you want to congratulate this person, you can use: “Félicitations !“. For example, your brother passed an important exam, so you might say: “Félicitations !” (Congratulations).

In case you want to be more precise about what you are congratulating him, you can use “Félicitations pour + topic“. In the example above it would be: “Félicitations pour ton examen !” (Congratulations for your exam!)

This is the neutral way, but in case you need something more formal you can use instead: “Mes sincères félicitations” (My sincere congratulations) or “Toutes mes félicitations” (All my congratulations). This is particularly useful for work emails and formal situations.

And in case you want something more familiar, you have variations such as “Bien joué !” (Well done) or “Chapeau !” (Hats off) or “Bravo !” (Bravo!)

Finally, if you want a slang version, you have “Bien ouej” which is the reversed version of “Bien joué” and which means “Lit / Well done“.

If you want more variations, check the next section! But with that you will have enough for 99% of situations.

Synonyms

  • Je te/vous félicite ! (“I congratulate you!“)
  • Mes félicitations ! (“My congratulations!“)
  • Mes sincères félicitations ! (“My sincere congratulations!“)(Formal)
  • Nos sincères félicitations ! (“Our sincere congratulations!“)(Formal)
  • Mes vives félicitations ! (“My wholehearted congratulations!“)(Formal)
  • Nos vives félicitations ! (“Our wholehearted congratulations!“)(Formal)
  • Toutes mes félicitations ! (“All my congratulations!“)
  • Toutes nos félicitations ! (“All our congratulations!“)
  • Bravo ! (“Bravo!“)
  • Hourra ! (“Hurray!“)
  • Bien joué ! (“Well played!“)
  • Bien ouej ! (“Lit! / Well played!“)
  • Chapeau ! (“Hats off!“)
  • Je suis content(e) pour toi/vous ! (“I’m happy for you!“)

Dialogue example

Audio dialogue by French natives

Dialogue audio

Dialogue text

” J’ai réussi mon examen ! “
” I passed my exam! “
” Félicitations ! “
” Congratulations! “
” Merci ! Je suis aux anges ! “
” Thanks! I’m ecstatic! “
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