# поздравления



## Crescent

Hello to all. 

I am in the process of explaining to a foreigner who is learning russian how to form/do congratulations in our beloved language.  And I wish to illustrate my explanations with as many examples as possible in order to help him to grasp the concept all the better.

I tried to think of as many as I can here:
S dnem rojdeniya! = Happy birthday
S novim godom = Happy New Year!
S rojdestvom = Happy/Merry Christmas!
S dnem svyatogo Valentina! = Happy Valentine's Day! 
etc.
And the example that I wanted to explain originally was ''S Legkim Parom!'' but I have no idea how to translate that into English (or French, for that matter. )

And I was wondering if our foreros would be kind enough to supply me with some, and to add to the list which I have already begun?  Just anything will do!

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!


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## Q-cumber

I think *"Have a mild steam!"* would be pretty close to the original


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## Jana337

If you have questions and comments about С лёгким паром, please continue in this thread. Let's talk here about other congratulations.


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## Doktor Zlo

I have some more examples.

С новорождённым! = Congratulations on your newborn! 
С наступающим Новым Годом! = Happy New Year (used up until New Years is reached)
C восьмого марта! = Happy International Women's Day! (Mar. 8)
C днём победы! = Happy Victory Day! (May. 9)


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## sparklya

In addition to Doktor Zlo's great examples, "С наступающим!" is often used on its own to mean the same as "С наступающим Новым Годом!"


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## Q-cumber

Doktor Zlo said:


> С наступающим Новым Годом! = Happy New Year (used up until New Years is reached)


What about *Со Старым Новым годом!* _(Happy Old New year!)_? Have you ever heard the expression?


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## Crescent

Good evening, and thank you very much to all of you for your responses!  I really appreciate all of your contributions!

*Jana:* I'm sorry, I wasn't actually aware of this thread until you have pointed it out to me so kindly, but I was wondering if it would be too..insolent of me to ask if we could possibly continue this thread instead of overwhelming the other one?  For the simple reason that my questions had actually very little to do with the movie _Ирония Судьбы или с Легким Паром_ and it was just an example of a quote which I have written in my post. 

*Doctor_Zlo:* Thank you very much, your suggestions were excellent! The only thing I'm wondering is that if it's a girl, would we normally say then ''С _новорожденной_''? 

Q-cumber: Hhhmmmm.... I honestly don't know about Happy Old New Year - it just sounds odd to me in English...>.< Whereas of course, in Russian, you hear this expression around the time на право и на лево! 

Thank you again to all and I would be grateful if you can think of more examples!


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## Carrie2

Also:

С прошедшим (днем рождения)! - Happy belated (birthday)
С годовщиной! - Happy anniversary - for some reason I don't remember ever hearing this in Russian, but I can't see why it shouldn't exist
С выздоровлением! - harder to translate because we don't really say this in English. 'Happy recovery' sounds ridiculous to me. Maybe 'I'm glad you're well again'/'I'm glad you're back on your feet'

And of course the always-useful
С праздником! - but the translation of this will depend on the context, because not all праздники are public holidays


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## papillon

Crescent said:


> I am in the process of explaining to a foreigner who is learning russian how to form/do congratulations in our beloved language.  And I wish to illustrate my explanations with as many examples as possible in order to help him to grasp the concept all the better.
> 
> I tried to think of as many as I can here:
> S dnem rojdeniya! = Happy birthday



And let's not forget the one I'm sure everyone here is still recovering from: (November 3)
C Днём работника сельского хозяйства и перерабатывающей промышленности.
Happy agriculture-and-food-processing-industry worker day.


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## Carrie2

Absolutely, Papillon, that's definitely the most important date of the year!


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## papillon

Carrie2 said:


> Absolutely, Papillon, that's definitely the most important date of the year!


Yeah, this year's celebration got a little out of control, I'll definitely have to tone it down next year.



Carrie2 said:


> С годовщиной! - Happy anniversary - for some reason I don't remember ever hearing this in Russian, but I can't see why it shouldn't exist


Well, in the US happy anniversary is usually (always??) understood as Happy *wedding *anniversary. In Russian the word годовщина is pretty general and requires the inclusion of the event you are celebrating:
С годовщиной свадьбы!
С годовщиной Великой Октябрьской Социалистической Революции (the usual slogan at the November "Octoberfests" in USSR). 
With this caveat, it's a common salutation.


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## Carrie2

papillon said:


> Yeah, this year's celebration got a little out of control, I'll definitely have to tone it down next year.






papillon said:


> Well, in the US happy anniversary is usually (always??) understood as Happy *wedding *anniversary.


 Yes, and in the UK too.



papillon said:


> In Russian the word годовщина is pretty general and requires the inclusion of the event you are celebrating


Yes, good point, that's something that hadn't occurred to me.


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## Maroseika

Doktor Zlo said:


> Happy Victory Day! (May. 9)


Sounds a bit weird...
Maybe there is some other way to congratualte smb. with this "holiday through tears"?


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## Q-cumber

Maroseika said:


> Sounds a bit weird...
> Maybe there is some other way to congratualte smb. with this "holiday through tears"?



What about: Congratulations on the Victory Day!


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## Maroseika

Q-cumber said:


> What about: Congratulations on the Victory Day!


That's much better on my Russian ear.
However I'm not sure the same for English speakers. Maybe for them "happy" is not so weird in respect of the V-day.


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## Doktor Zlo

Maroseika said:


> Sounds a bit weird...
> Maybe there is some other way to congratualte smb. with this "holiday through tears"?


 
You're right. It is a little weird. I don't think there really is a proper English language analogue in this case.
I included С днём победы because it's an important phrase to teach a foreigner learning Russian.


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## Carrie2

With respect to С Днем победы, I disagree slightly. There's a a difference between the way _to congratulate_ is used in English and _поздравлять_ is used in Russian. In English you can only congratulate someone on something that is an achievement of theirs, e.g. passing an exam, or something that they themselves have done, e.g. getting married. So you wouldn't say _Congratulations on Victory Day_, except maybe if the person in question had actually fought in the War themsleves. I think the correct translation of С Днем победы is indeed _Happy Victory Day_. If this sounds strange in English, it's because we don't mark Victory Day (although in the UK we do mark Armistice Day, which is today), and so it's not necessarily clear to an English speaker what _Victory Day_ refers to. This is why _Happy Victory Day_ might sound strange in English, and not for any linguistic reason.


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## Q-cumber

Carrie2 said:


> With respect to С Днем победы, I disagree slightly. There's a a difference between the way _to congratulate_ is used in English and _поздравлять_ is used in Russian. In English you can only congratulate someone on something that is an achievement of theirs, e.g. passing an exam, or something that they themselves have done, e.g. getting married. So you wouldn't say _Congratulations on Victory Day_, except maybe if the person in question had actually fought in the War themsleves.



As a matter of fact, such a congratulations are predominantly adressed to the veterans and to these who survived through the war.


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## Crescent

Thank you very much to everyone once again for your contributions! 

To be honest, I can't quite think of why some of you consider 'Happy Victory Day!'' to sound odd...  Perhaps I'm the _odd__ p) _one out here, but to me this is the most accurate translation that you could possibly give, considering the fact that this day isn't celebrated in England (except for Armistice Day as Carrie rightly pointed out.)

Carrie, thank you very much for such a wonderful explanation - I was astonished quite literally when I read it! I couldn't have put it better myself..
To me too, ''Congratulations on something'' has this overshadowing hint of the fact that the person congratulated has actually achieved something and somehow ''deserved'' the congratulations.



> And let's not forget the one I'm sure everyone here is still recovering from: (November 3)
> C Днём работника сельского хозяйства и перерабатывающей промышленности.
> Happy agriculture-and-food-processing-industry worker day.


  I have honestly never heard about this one... So, I am kind of glad and proud to say that I didn't really have to ''recover'' from it.  Besides, as Papi rightly once noted, the only thing I drink at such occasions is milkshake.. so nothing much to recover from! 

Thank you again everyone.


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## Carrie2

Crescent said:


> Carrie, thank you very much for such a wonderful explanation - I was astonished quite literally when I read it! I couldn't have put it better myself..


Oh, well you're welcome, thank _you_.  I'm blushing.


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## natalia084

_*Some wishes from English to Russian:*_

All the best! - Всего хорошего!
Bless you (when sneezing) - Будьте здоровы!
Congratulations! - Поздравляю!
Enjoy! (For meals…) - На здоровье!
Good luck! - Удачи!
Good night & sweet dreams! - Спокойной   ночи и приятных снов!
Happy birthday! - С днём рождения!
Happy new year! - С Новым Годом!
I will miss you. - Я буду   скучать по тебе.
I'd like to visit your country one day. - Мне бы   хотелось побывать в вашей стране.
Merry Christmas! - С Рождеством!
Say hi to John for me. - Передайте   Джону от меня привет!
Take care of yourself! - Береги себя!

===========================
Good luck to all !


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## Maroseika

natalia084 said:


> Enjoy! (For meals…) - На здоровье!


"На здоровье" is not used separately in such context. It should be in some way like this:
- Кушайте (ешьте, пейте, угощайтесь, etc.) на здоровье.
Separately it used only in reply to the thanks for the meal or, jokingly, to any other kind of "thanks":
- Спасибо (за...).
- На здоровье.


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## tram-pam-pam

> "На здоровье" is not used separately in such context.


 Yeah, a separate* на здоровье* is a response.
But you can still wish *приятного аппетита* (= enjoy your meal, _bon appétit_). Separately  .

ps
BTW, only four phrases from the list given above (3, 7, 8 and 11) are *поздравления, *in Russian. 

Other *wishes *can be considered as *пожелания*_ кому-либо_ (1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 13) and some other... _wishes_ 
(9, 10 and 12 - I-do-not-know-how-to-call-them together).


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