Celebrations and Congratulations

Russian congratulation language hangs on two verbs that pull in opposite cases, and once you see the contrast it never confuses you again. You congratulate someone WITH an occasion — поздравля́ть с + instrumental (С днём рожде́ния! "Happy birthday!"). You wish someone OF a good thing — жела́ть + genitive (Жела́ю сча́стья "I wish you happiness"). Add the toast, which raises a glass за + accusative (За тебя́! "To you!"), and you have the whole machinery of Russian celebration. This page lays out the holiday phrases you'll actually use and ties each to the case that drives it — so you can build new congratulations correctly on the fly.

Congratulating: поздравля́ть с + instrumental

The verb is поздравля́ть ("to congratulate"), and the occasion you're congratulating someone on takes с + instrumental. The person congratulated is the direct object (accusative). So "I congratulate you on your birthday" is Я поздравля́ю тебя́ с днём рожде́ния — тебя́ (acc, the person) + с днём рожде́ния (с + instrumental, the occasion). In speech the verb is usually dropped and only the bare с-phrase survives as a greeting: С днём рожде́ния!

Wishing: жела́ть + genitive

The verb жела́ть ("to wish") is one of a small set that governs the genitive — you wish someone of a good thing. The person you wish to goes in the dative (recipient), the good thing in the genitive. So "I wish you happiness" is Жела́ю тебе́ сча́стья — тебе́ (dat) + сча́стья (gen). The logic: you're wishing some happiness their way, a partitive-flavoured "of."

The two patterns side by side

This is the heart of the page. The same celebration uses с + instrumental for the occasion and + genitive for the wishes — back to back. A typical birthday message stitches them together:

Toasts: за + accusative

When you raise a glass, the toast is за + accusative — "to / for" the thing or person you're honouring. За тебя́! ("To you!"), За здоро́вье! ("To your health!"), За любо́вь! ("To love!"). Note that здоро́вье here is accusative after за (it looks the same as the nominative because it's neuter), which is a different case from the genitive здоро́вья you'd use after жела́ю — same root, different frame.

Celebrating, gifts, and invitations

Rounding out the field: отмеча́ть / отме́тить ("to celebrate / mark" an occasion) takes the holiday in the accusative; пода́рок is "a present" and you дари́ть ("give as a gift") it — with the recipient in the dative. A common opener is Дава́й отме́тим! ("Let's celebrate!"), perfective, a single planned event.

How this differs from English

English wraps everything in one preposition. We "congratulate someone on their birthday," "wish them a happy birthday," and drink "to their health" — all with no case marking. Russian forces a choice at every step. "Congratulate on" becomes с + instrumental (the occasion is, etymologically, what you congratulate them with). "Wish" becomes a genitive of the thing wished (a partitive "of"), with the person in the dative. And "drink to" becomes за + accusative. There's no English clue that "happy birthday" and "I wish you happiness" use different cases — but in Russian, day-of-birth is instrumental (С днём рожде́ния) and happiness is genitive (сча́стья). Memorise the verb-to-case links — поздравлять→с+instr, желать→gen, за→acc — and the right ending becomes automatic.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• поздравля́ть с + instrumental — congratulate WITH an occasion: С днём рожде́ния!, С Но́вым го́дом!, С пра́здником! The person is accusative.
• жела́ть + genitive — wish OF a good thing: Жела́ю сча́стья, здоро́вья, успе́хов. The person is dative.
• The two run back to back: Поздравля́ю с днём рожде́ния! Жела́ю сча́стья!
• Toasts = за + accusative: За тебя́!, За здоро́вье! (accusative здоро́вье, vs genitive здоро́вья after жела́ю).
• Bare genitive wishes hide a dropped жела́ю: Уда́чи!, Всего́ хоро́шего!