Good for you is praise for someone's success or brave decision: “well done!”, “I'm happy for you!”. Said in a flat, cold tone, especially with Well at the start, it becomes sarcastic: a reaction to boasting that doesn't impress you or annoys you. The tone and the situation tell you which of the two meanings is meant.
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Good for you!; Good for you for + verb-ing; (ironic) Well, good for you.
- — I finally passed my driving test! — Good for you! I knew you could do it.
- You told your manager the plan wouldn't work? Good for you for speaking up.
- — I've just bought my third new phone this year. — Well, good for you.
What changed
First versionYou got the job? You're well done!
RevisionYou got the job? Good for you!
To praise someone, learners sometimes take well done and add you're. But well done praises a job done and is said as a reply on its own, without you are: Well done! And you're well done sounds as if you're talking about a steak cooked all the way through. To show you're happy for someone, say Good for you!
Inside a sentence, good for you usually means “healthy, useful for you”: Walking to work every day is good for you. As praise, it's a separate reply said as an exclamation: — I walk to work every day now. — Good for you!
Your turn
When my friend told me she had passed all her exams, I said, '___! You worked so hard for this.'
Show the answer
Good for you — Your friend has already passed her exams, and you're happy about her result, so Good for you. Good luck is for before a challenge whose outcome isn't known yet, and here it's all behind her.
A friend says he has quit a job he didn't like and wants to open his own café. Support him with Good for you and say what seems brave to you about this decision.
Good for you! Leaving a stable job to open your own café takes real courage.
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