Eu disse parabéns.

Disse is the preterite form of dizer (to say / to tell) for eu and also ele/ela/você.

• dizer = infinitive
• eu disse = I said
• ele disse = he said

It looks different because dizer is irregular in the past. This is very common in Portuguese.

A few useful forms:

• eu digo = I say
• eu disse = I said
• eu diria = I would say

Yes. Portuguese often allows you to omit the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So both are possible:

• Eu disse parabéns.
• Disse parabéns.

Including eu can make the subject clearer or more emphatic, especially if you are contrasting yourself with someone else:

• Ela não disse nada, mas eu disse parabéns.
  She didn’t say anything, but I said congratulations.

It is understandable and can be natural, especially if you are reporting the exact words you said.

But in many situations, Brazilians very often use dar parabéns to mean to congratulate someone:

• Eu dei parabéns para ela.
• Eu dei parabéns a ela.

So there is a small difference in feel:

• Eu disse parabéns. = I said congratulations.
• Eu dei parabéns. = I congratulated them / I offered congratulations.

If the focus is on the actual words spoken, disse parabéns works well. If the focus is on the act of congratulating, dei parabéns is often more idiomatic.

Parabéns is the standard Portuguese expression for congratulations.

It is used:

• for birthdays
• for achievements
• for good news
• for success

Examples:

• Parabéns pelo seu aniversário! = Happy birthday / Congratulations on your birthday
• Parabéns pela promoção! = Congratulations on the promotion
• Parabéns! Você conseguiu. = Congratulations! You did it.

So it is broader than just birthdays.

In modern Portuguese, parabéns is a fixed expression used as an interjection or noun-like expression meaning congratulations.

Learners often notice the final -s and wonder if there is a singular form. In this common congratulatory use, you normally just use parabéns. You do not usually say parabém.

So the best way to learn it is as a complete expression:

• parabéns = congratulations

Not always. Eu disse parabéns. is a complete sentence if the person is already understood from context.

But if you want to include the person, you can add it:

• Eu disse parabéns para você.
• Eu disse parabéns ao João.
• Eu dei parabéns para ela.
• Eu dei parabéns a ela.

With dar parabéns, Portuguese commonly uses a or para before the person:

• dar parabéns a alguém
• dar parabéns para alguém

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, para is very common in speech.

Portuguese can report speech without quotation marks in a simple sentence like this, especially when the exact reported word is short and clear from context.

So:

• Eu disse parabéns. = I said congratulations.

If you want to present it more explicitly as direct speech, you could write:

• Eu disse: parabéns!

That version feels more like you are reproducing the exact words dramatically or directly.

So both are possible, but they have slightly different style:

• Eu disse parabéns. = neutral report
• Eu disse: parabéns! = direct quotation feel

Usually, dizer is the more natural choice for reporting the specific words said.

• dizer = to say / to tell
• falar = to speak / to talk

So:

• Eu disse parabéns. = natural
• Eu falei parabéns. = possible in some contexts, but less standard for this idea

Very roughly:

• Use dizer when focusing on what was said
• Use falar when focusing on speaking/talking

A simple Brazilian Portuguese approximation is:

• Eu ≈ eh-ooh said quickly, often closer to ew
• disse ≈ JEE-see or DEE-see, depending on accent, but in much of Brazil the di sounds like jee
• parabéns ≈ pah-rah-BENGS with a nasal sound in the stressed syllable

A more learner-friendly breakdown:

• Eu → one syllable
• disse → DI-sse with stress on the first syllable
• parabéns → stress on the last syllable: pa-ra-BÉNS

The hardest part for English speakers is the nasal sound in béns.

The acute accent in é shows that the stressed syllable is béns:

• pa-ra-BÉNS

Without getting too technical, the accent helps tell you where to place the stress. In this word, the final syllable is stressed.

The nasal quality comes from the spelling -ens, not just from the accent itself.

No. That is a very common beginner misunderstanding.

Parabéns is used for many kinds of congratulations, not just birthdays:

• passing an exam
• getting married
• having a baby
• getting a new job
• winning something
• doing a good job

For birthdays, Brazilians also often say:

• Parabéns!
• Parabéns pelo seu dia!
• Feliz aniversário!

So parabéns is very flexible.

No. Nothing in Eu disse parabéns changes for gender.

• eu = same for men and women
• disse = same form for eu
• parabéns = fixed expression

So a man or a woman would both say:

• Eu disse parabéns.

In natural English, we usually say I said congratulations or I congratulated them.

Portuguese dizer can cover ideas that English separates into say and tell, depending on structure. But in this sentence, the most natural interpretation is:

• Eu disse parabéns. = I said congratulations.

If you want the sense of I told someone congratulations, Portuguese would usually make the person explicit:

• Eu disse parabéns para ela.
• Eu disse parabéns a ela.

A very useful set to remember is:

• Parabéns! = Congratulations!
• Eu disse parabéns. = I said congratulations.
• Eu dei parabéns para ela. = I congratulated her.

That gives you:

1. the fixed expression itself
2. a way to report the words you said
3. a very common Brazilian way to express the act of congratulating someone

So yes, Eu disse parabéns is fine, but dar parabéns is especially worth learning because you will hear it a lot in Brazil.