Congratulations and best wishes in Russian

Hello dear students! Today I would like to pay attention to such a topic as congratulations in Russian. Every culture has its own etiquette of congratulations; there are cliché phrases suitable for any occasion, and more specific wishes applied to specific people and on a specific occasion. It is important to be familiar with this etiquette, because if a language mistake is easily forgiven by native speakers, then a cultural mistake is unlikely. Today we will analyze such topics as birthday congratulations, happy new year and Merry Christmas in Russian, and many more.

Construction Congratulate - "Поздравляю" + Accusative case + preposition "с" + Instrumental case

• Поздравляю + тебя (кого? Винительный падеж) + с + праздником (с чем? Творительный падеж)

• Поздравляю + Алексея (кого? Винительный падеж) + с + юбилеем

• Поздравляю Вас (кого? Винительный падеж) + с + рождением сына

To give your congratulations even better sound and sincerity, we can add the phrase to this construction:

От всей души - From all my heart

От всего сердца – from all my heart

От чистого сердца [At chistava sertsa] Sincerely ( Russian idiom which doesn’t have a direct translation)

Thus, we get:

От чистого сердца + поздравляю + Accusative case + с + Instrumental case

• От чистого сердца поздравляю молодожёнов с днём свадьбы! I sincerely congratulate the honeymooners on their happy wedding

If you want to congratulate a person in a very simple way, then you can simply say or write:

• Алина, с праздником! Danila, happy holiday!

2. Sometimes we congratulate the person themself, but we also want to convey congratulations to someone, for example, parents, relatives or friends, then we can say or write:

 Передайте мои поздравления + дательный падеж (кому?) - Send my congratulations + Dative case (to whom?)

Передайте мои поздравления вашим родителям!] Congratulate your parents on that event/holiday.

The traditional wish on this day is «С днем рождения!», (Happy birthday!). Sometimes you can hear the wish «С днем варенья!» (Happy jam day!), But usually, this phrase is used to address children or very good friends.

The main birthday wish is «Желаю всего самого лучшего/Желаю всего наилучшего» (I am wishing you all the best).

Another widely used birthday wish is: «Желаю здоровья, счастья и любви» (I am wishing you health, happiness, and love).

Also, the most common birthday wish is the phrase «Желаю, чтобы все твои мечты сбылись», (I wish that all your dreams come true) или «Желаю всего, чего ты сам себе желаешь» (I wish you all that you wish for yourself). 

By the way, if you failed to congratulate the person on the Birthday, you can do it after, using the phrase:

С прошедшим днём рождения! (Happy belated birthday)

How to wish someone a Merry Christmas?

For congratulations on Christmas in Russian, it is customary to use the phrases:

•    «С Рождеством»;

•    «Счастливого Рождества».

To thank you for the congratulations, they usually say:

•    «И Вас также» — polite form

•    «И тебя также» — is an unofficial form

How to wish someone a Happy New Year?

In Russian culture, it is customary to start congratulating you on the New Year, even before the onset of the holiday. There is even a special phrase for this:

•    «С наступающим! ». With coming New Year!

You can hear it anywhere a few days before the new year. Moreover, it is customary to speak it even to unfamiliar or completely unfamiliar people. For example, a typical situation is when a customer congratulates the store employee whilst leaving the store.

Directly on the New Year, it is customary to congratulate each other with the phrases:

•    «С новым годом!». ‎ К этой фразе также часто добавляют «с новым счастьем» (“With new happiness”)

•    «Счастливого нового года».

You can use the same phrases to reply to congratulations as in the Christmas situation.

We express our wishes sequentially according to the principle:

Personal life (family, relationships);

Society, self-realization (work, finance);

Body (appearance, health);

Soul (inner state):

Personal-Society-Body-Soul:

Examples below -

"Я желаю тебе семейного счастья, успехов в творчестве, всегда быть здоровой, также хорошо выглядеть и чтобы в душе твоей всегда была гармония."

"I wish you family happiness, - success in your work, - always be healthy, - continue to look fabulous, - and so that there is always harmony in your soul.

"Мы желаем Вам семейного благополучия, - хорошего здоровья, -всегда оставаться таким же бодрым и жизнерадостным и наслаждаться жизнью!"

"We wish you family well-being, - good health, always stay the same vigorous and cheerful, - and enjoy life!".