Tahniah kepada pasukan itu!

A simple word-by-word breakdown is:

• Tahniah = congratulations
• kepada = to
• pasukan = team
• itu = that / the

So the structure is roughly:

• Tahniah
  • kepada
    • pasukan itu
• Congratulations
  • to
    • that team / the team

In natural English, this is usually just understood as Congratulations to the team! or Congratulations to that team!

Kepada is commonly used before a person or group when something is directed to them.

So in this sentence:

• Tahniah kepada pasukan itu = Congratulations to that team

It sounds natural because the congratulations are being directed to a group of people.

Learners often compare it with untuk, but kepada is the more standard choice here when addressing or directing something to someone.

Yes. Tahniah! on its own is very common and completely natural.

You use:

• Tahniah! = when the listener already knows who you are congratulating
• Tahniah kepada pasukan itu! = when you want to specify who the congratulations are for

So both are correct; the longer version is just more explicit.

In Malay, words like ini and itu usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• pasukan itu = that team / the team
• not itu pasukan for this meaning

This is different from English, where we say that team with that before the noun.

A useful pattern is:

• buku itu = that book / the book
• rumah itu = that house / the house
• pasukan itu = that team / the team

It can feel like either one, depending on context.

Literally, itu often means that. But in real Malay, noun + itu can also make the noun definite, so in English it may be translated as the.

So pasukan itu could be understood as:

• that team if you are contrasting it with another team
• the team if both speaker and listener already know which team is meant

This is very common in Malay: the exact English translation depends on context.

Because this is a set expression, and Malay often allows short expressions without an explicit verb when the meaning is obvious.

Tahniah kepada pasukan itu! is like saying:

• Congratulations to the team!

English does the same thing here: there is no full verb like I give or I offer in the sentence. It is just a fixed congratulatory expression.

So nothing is missing; the sentence is complete as it is.

Pasukan is grammatically singular: team.

But like English team, it refers to a group of people.

So:

• pasukan = team
• not teams

If you wanted teams, Malay often uses reduplication:

• pasukan-pasukan = teams

In your sentence, pasukan itu means that team / the team, a single team.

People may understand it, but Tahniah kepada pasukan itu is the better and more natural choice.

Why?

• kepada is preferred when something is directed to people or groups
• untuk often means for, but it is less standard in this kind of congratulatory formula

So if you are learning standard, natural Malay, use:

• Tahniah kepada pasukan itu!

A simple English-friendly guide is:

• Tahniah ≈ tahn-nyah
• kepada ≈ kuh-PAH-dah
• pasukan ≈ pah-SOO-kahn
• itu ≈ ee-too

A few helpful notes:

• h is pronounced
• ny in Tahniah sounds like the ny in canyon for many learners
• Malay pronunciation is usually quite regular compared with English

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

• tahn-nyah kuh-PAH-dah pah-SOO-kahn ee-too

It works in both formal and everyday situations.

You can use Tahniah! or Tahniah kepada pasukan itu!:

• in conversation
• in speeches
• in writing
• in announcements
• on social media
• in news-style language

It is a standard and polite way to congratulate someone.

If you want to sound especially formal or ceremonial, you might hear longer phrases, but Tahniah kepada pasukan itu! is already perfectly good Malay.

Yes. The pattern is very productive:

• Tahniah kepada anda! = Congratulations to you!
• Tahniah kepada Ali! = Congratulations to Ali!
• Tahniah kepada para pemenang! = Congratulations to the winners!
• Tahniah kepada semua pelajar itu! = Congratulations to all those students!

So the general pattern is:

• Tahniah kepada + person/group

This makes the sentence a very useful model for everyday Malay.