Congratulations in Portuguese: Parabéns or Felicidades — Practice

Use parabéns to congratulate someone

Parabéns is the most direct everyday way to say congratulations in Brazilian Portuguese. You can use it for a birthday, graduation, new job, or another achievement. Add pelo or pela plus the reason when you want to be specific.

The noun after pelo/pela determines the form: pelo seu trabalho (for your work), pela conquista (for the achievement).

Use felicidades to wish someone well

Felicidades means happiness or best wishes. It often appears in a warm message for a couple, a birthday, or a new stage of life. It can stand alone, but it also works naturally after parabéns.

You do not need to choose only one. Parabéns marks the occasion; felicidades adds a wish for what comes next.

Make your message personal without overdoing it

Name the reason you are celebrating, then add one sincere detail. A short, specific message usually feels warmer than a long list of generic wishes.

Use the person's name if you know it. For a formal relationship, a complete sentence can feel more appropriate than an emoji or an abbreviated message.

Remember: Choose parabéns to mark the occasion and add felicidades when you want to express warm wishes for the future.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Congratulations on your new job!

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Parabéns pelo seu novo emprego!

2. Congratulations on graduating!

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Parabéns pela formatura!

3. Happy birthday!

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Parabéns pelo aniversário!

4. Congratulations, and lots of happiness in this new chapter!

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Parabéns e muitas felicidades nesta nova fase!

5. I wish you both lots of happiness.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Desejo muitas felicidades para vocês.

6. Best wishes on your special day!

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Felicidades no seu dia!

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Choose parabéns to mark the occasion and add felicidades when you want to express warm wishes for the future.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Congratulations in Portuguese: Parabéns or Felicidades? lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.