恭喜
Gōngxǐ
The English phrase 'congratulation' is translated into Chinese as 恭喜 (Gōngxǐ).
恭喜 is used as an expression to praise someone for an achievement or a happy event. You can add emphasis and warmth to the expression by doubling it to 恭喜恭喜. For specific achievements, you can say 恭喜你升职了! to mean 'congratulations on your promotion!' For a marriage, you can use the phrase 祝你们幸福美满! which translates to 'wishing you a happy and blissful marriage'.
What does it mean word for word?
The first character, 恭, means respectful or polite.
Which one should you use?
While 恭喜 is typically used for happy life events like weddings or births, 祝贺 is more formal and is often used for professional or academic achievements.
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding the pronoun 你 after 恭喜 to form 恭喜你 makes the phrase a direct address to the person being congratulated, meaning 'congratulations to you'.
How do you pronounce it?
Gōngxǐ
Did you know?
- While English speakers usually reply to 'congratulations' with 'thank you', the traditional response to 恭喜 is to say 恭喜 back to the person who congratulated you.
- In many regions, instead of just saying 恭喜, people will say 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái), which literally means 'congratulations and may you prosper/get rich'.
- During Chinese New Year, people often say 恭喜 to wish others prosperity, rather than just celebrating specific personal achievements.
Examples in context
- 恭喜你升职了！Gōngxǐ nǐ shēngzhí le!Congratulations on your promotion!
- 恭喜你考上了大学。Gōngxǐ nǐ kǎo shàng le dàxué.Congratulations on getting into university.
- 恭喜你们新婚快乐！Gōngxǐ nǐmen xīnhūn kuàilè!Congratulations on your wedding!
Example conversation
At a cafe, Zihan is congratulating Wei on winning a competition.
- 梓涵 Zihan恭喜你赢得比赛！Gōngxǐ nǐ yíngdé bǐsài!Congratulations on winning the competition!
- 伟 Wei谢谢你的祝贺。Xièxiè nǐ de zhùhè.Thank you for your congratulations.
- 梓涵 Zihan你真的太棒了。Nǐ zhēn de tài bàng le.You were truly amazing.
- 伟 Wei这都是大家的帮助。Zhè dōu shì dàjiā de bāngzhù.It was all thanks to everyone's help.
