NuanceDeck
enfr
☰
Why NuanceDeckHow it worksModulesThe schedulerLanguagesStart for free

French · phrasebook

How to say congratulations in French

Congratulations in French is félicitations. It is a plural noun used alone, as in English, and it fits a friend who passed an exam as well as a client opening a shop.

Aurélien CuvelierAurélien CuvelierSep 19, 2026
félicitations
congratulations
anyone

The ways to say it

félicitations
congratulations
anyone

How to use it

Both exchanges below follow good news. A student announces a passed exam and hears félicitations, with a remark about the work behind it. A couple announce their new shop and hear the same word, followed by a formal wish of success with vous.

Watch out

The final letter of félicitations is silent. It is greyed in the examples; the plural is written, not heard.

In a real conversation

Each exchange is a line and its reply. Greyed letters are written and not pronounced. A tie marks a liaison, with the sound you hear under it. A label under a verb names its tense when it is not the present.

J'ai réussi mon examen de maths !I passed my maths exam!Félicitations ! Tu as travaillé très dur.Congratulations! You worked very hard.
Nous ouvrons notre boutique la semaine prochaine.We are opening our shop next week.Félicitations ! Je vous souhaite beaucoup de succès.Congratulations! I wish you lots of success.

Questions people ask

Is félicitations formal?
It is neutral. The sentence after it carries the register, with tu or with vous.

More French phrases

Each one with its tu and vous forms, its register and real exchanges.

The whole French phrasebook on one page ›

Learn the words behind the phrases

The French course is on its way. Leave your email and get one message when it opens.

One email at launch, nothing else. No newsletter, no sharing.

Aurélien Cuvelier

Written by

Aurélien Cuvelier Founder, NuanceDeck

Aurélien Cuvelier builds NuanceDeck: the app, and the verification pipeline behind its dictionary. Every entry is grounded in the official TORFL lexical minimum and a 20,000-word frequency corpus, and every example sentence passes a certification review before it ships.

More about how NuanceDeck is made ›