“Aren't you going to congratulate him on winning?”

English Lesson: Aren't you going to congratulate him on winning?

Your son just won his school's spelling bee. After you tell him how proud you are, you notice your daughter has been silent. You tell her that she should say something to her brother.

Aren't you going to congratulate him on winning?

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congratulate (someone) on (an accomplishment or lucky chance)

What does it mean to "congratulate" someone? Basically, it means to tell someone "Congratulations". This is just a nice word that you say to a person when something great has happened to them. People congratulate each other on events like:

getting engaged

getting a job

winning a game

To express the reason for congratulating someone, use the phrase "congratulate (someone) on ___":

Aren't you going to congratulate him on winning?

Congratulations on your new house!

Aren’t you going to (do something)?

When someone should do something, but it seems like they aren’t going to, you might say “Aren’t you going to ___?”

Aren’t you going to say thank you?

Aren’t you going to tell her we can’t come?

Although this phrase has the form of a question, it’s more of a command. You wouldn’t want to say this to anyone you don’t know well. It shows some disapproval and is rather direct.