Quando usare auguri, congratulazioni e complimenti in italiano

Auguri or congratulazioni — which to use in Italian?

These two are not interchangeable, and the dividing line is effort. Auguri are wishes for things that simply happen to you or lie ahead — a birthday, a new year, an anniversary — where you did nothing to “earn” them: “tanti auguri di buon compleanno.” Congratulazioni recognise an accomplishment reached through your own work — a degree, a promotion — “the person earned them.” Get them backwards and a birthday wish sounds oddly like you are praising someone for turning a year older.

A handy test: future or unearned event, say auguri; a goal already achieved by effort, say congratulazioni. Auguri is by far the more common all-purpose well-wish in Italian. For pure admiration of a quality or a job well done there is a third word, complimenti — closer to English “well done / nice one.”