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BEST WISHES & CONGRATULATIONS IN ITALIAN (+ Real Examples)

It’s not always easy to choose the right word to say for congratulating someone or for wishing them the best of luck, especially when you have to do it in a foreign language.

But you’re in the right place as I’ll show you the most popular words for all occasions (birthday, promotion, weddings, etc.). After this lesson, you’ll know how to give your best wishes, congratulations, and compliments in Italian so you’ll never be short of words.

First of all, you must know in Italian, there’s a difference in how you give best wishes, congratulations, and compliments. In this lesson, I’ll walk you through each of these occasions and you’ll learn the most common words to be ready in all situations.

1. BEST WISHES (IN ITALIAN)

Let’s start with when you can give your best wishes in Italian, which is generally on the following occasions: birthday, anniversary or public holidays such as Xmas or Easter.

“AUGURI” is the most common word for this purpose and the options below will make your wishes sound even warmer:

AUGURONI
TANTI AUGURI
TANTISSIMI AUGURI
TANTI CARI AUGURI

Another common way to give your best wishes in Italian is by using the adjective “BUON“/”BUONA” plus the name of the occasion you’re celebrating, for example:

Buon compleanno (= Happy birthday)
Buon anniversario ( = Happy anniversary)
Buon Natale ( = Happy Xmas)
Buona Pasqua ( = Happy Easter)

Then if you want to simply wish someone good luck, these are the most used expressions:

BUONA FORTUNA ( = Best of luck)
IN BOCCA AL LUPO ( = Break a leg)

Watch the video below on the animals to know more about this idiom

2. CONGRATULATIONS (IN ITALIAN)

Let’s move on to the congratulations. In Italian, you say “CONGRATULAZIONI” and these are some instances where you can use this word: a promotion or a new job, graduation, a wedding or an engagement, a new birth.

Let’s see how to use this word in a context. You need the preposition “per” to refer to the reason you’re congratulating someone, for example:

Congratulazioni per la promozione = congratulation on your promotion
Congratulazioni per il nuovo lavoro = congratulations on the new job
Congratulazioni per la laurea = congratulations on your degree
Congratulazioni per il matrimonio = congratulations on the wedding
Congratulazioni per il fidanzamento = congratulazioni on the engagement
Congratulazioni per la nascita di tuo figlio = congratulation on the birth of your baby (if it’s a boy)
Congratulazioni per la nascita di tua figlia = congratulation on the birth of your baby (if it’s a baby girl)

Before we carry on with the last part of this lesson, I’d like to mention another word to say congratulations: “FELICITAZIONI“. This is similar to “congratulazioni” but sounds quite formal and to be honest not very common in the spoken language.

3. COMPLIMENTS (IN ITALIAN)

And last but not least, here’s how you pay your compliments in Italian.

“COMPLIMENTI” is what you say when either you like something about a person or for something they’ve done or achieved.

Let’s look at some real-life examples and how you can include this word in your conversations.

1. Questa cena è deliziosa, complimenti!
You can say this to someone who cooked a delicious dinner for you to show how much you liked it

2. È un quadro stupendo, complimenti!
This is a way to express your appreciation for a beautiful painting

3. Questo vestito ti sta molto bene. Complimenti!
You can say the following compliment when someone’s wearing a dress that really suits them

4. Siete una coppia stupenda, complimenti!
This is a perfect thing to say to a splendid couple on their wedding day

5. Che bella casa. Complimenti!
Use this expression when you’re visiting someone and want to congratulate them for their beautiful house

6. Hai molto talento, complimenti!
You can say this to address someone who’s very talented and show your admiration

SUMMARY

In this lesson, you’ve learned some common ways to give your best wishes, congratulations, and compliments in Italian. I’ve listed them again for you.

1. BEST WISHES IN ITALIAN

Auguri
Auguroni
Tanti auguri
Tantissimi auguri
Tanti cari auguri
Buon/Buona + occasion (e.g. buon compleanno, buona Pasqua, etc)
Buona fortuna ( = best of luck)
In bocca al lupo ( = break a leg)

2. CONGRATULATIONS IN ITALIAN

Congratulazioni
Felicitazioni (Note: this is quite formal and not common in the spoken language)

3. COMPLIMENTS IN ITALIAN

Complimenti

Hope you liked this lesson and I’ll see you in the next one 😉

These are some additional topics that you may be interested in checking out:

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