The correct spelling is congratulations. C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S.
The letter in the middle is a T, not a D. “Congradulations” is not a word.
If you are writing a card right now, that is your answer. The rest of this page is why the mistake happens, so it stops happening.
Why so many people write “congradulations”
Say the word out loud at normal speed. Con-gra-ju-lay-shuns.
That middle sound is not a clean T. In natural American and British speech, a t followed by a u blends into a “ch” or “j” sound. The same thing happens in actual, nature, picture, and statue.
So your ear hears something close to a d or a j, and your hand reaches for the letter that matches the sound.
There is also a second pull. The word graduation exists, sounds similar, and has a d. Congratulations and graduations often turn up in the same sentence, on the same card, at the same ceremony. It is easy to borrow the wrong letter from the wrong word.
The trick that fixes it for good
Congratulations shares a root with grateful and gratitude.
All three come from the Latin gratus, meaning pleasing or thankful. Say grat-eful and grat-itude. You can hear the t clearly in both, because the syllable is stressed.
Now carry that same grat into congratulations.
- grateful
- gratitude
- congratulations
Graduation is unrelated. It comes from Latin gradus, meaning a step, which is also where grade, gradual and degree come from. Different root, different letter.
The word broken into pieces
| Part | Letters | Note |
|---|---|---|
| con | c-o-n | together |
| grat | g-r-a-t | pleasing, the same as in grateful |
| u | u | |
| la | l-a | |
| tions | t-i-o-n-s | the usual noun ending |
Fourteen letters, four syllables, one t in the middle and one in the ending.
Common wrong versions
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| congradulations | congratulations |
| congratulations for a single wish | congratulations (always plural) |
| congrats | fine informally, not in formal writing |
| congradulation | congratulations |
| congratulatoins | congratulations |
Is it always plural?
Yes. When you are congratulating someone, the word always ends in s.
Congratulations on your new job.
The singular congratulation exists in dictionaries but is rarely used. Nobody says “congratulation on your wedding.”
Congratulations or congrats?
Congrats is a normal, friendly shortening. It is fine in a text message, a comment, or a note between friends.
Use the full word in anything formal: a card to a colleague, a letter, an email to someone senior, or anything printed.
How to use it in a sentence
The word takes on ” for ” for the achievement and to for the person.
- Congratulations on your promotion.
- Congratulations to the whole team.
- Please pass on my congratulations to her.
A common slip is “congratulations for your promotion”. The natural preposition in English is on.
Where to go next
- Grammar vs grammer, another word people misspell for the same reason
- Twelve common English mistakes, each with a memory test
- Check your spelling against a 276,734-word dictionary
- Build your English vocabulary
Questions people ask
Is it congratulations or congradulations?
Congratulations, with a t. Congradulations is not a word in any variety of English.
Why do people spell congratulations with a d?
Because the tu in the middle is pronounced like “ju” in natural speech, so the ear hears something close to a d. The similar-sounding word graduation, which really does have a d, pulls people the same way.
How do you remember the spelling of congratulations?
Link it to grateful and gratitude. All three share the Latin root gratus, and the t is easy to hear in the shorter words.
Is congrats a real word?
Yes, as an informal shortening. Use the full word in formal writing.
Do you say congratulations on or congratulations for?
On. “Congratulations on your new job.”
For how Latin roots shaped modern English spelling, see the overview of English orthography on Wikipedia.