Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 13/18

いらっしゃる

To be (Honorific), To come (Honorific), To go (Honorific)

Remember not to use honorific language when speaking about yourself and your actions!

Structure

いる・くる・いく ￫ いらっしゃる
Verb［ている］ ￫ Verb［て］+ いらっしゃる

Conjugations
Verb［る］ ￫ いらっしゃる
Verb［ない］ ￫ いらっしゃらない
Verb［た］ ￫ いらっしゃった
Verb［なかった］ ￫ いらっしゃらなかった

Details

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About いらっしゃる

いらっしゃる is another of the common honorific language expressions in Japanese. This means that it elevates the status of another person, in order to pay them respect. It will never be used when referring to the speaker themselves, or their own actions.

いらっしゃる can be used to replace 居(い)る 'to be', 来(く)る 'to come', or 行(い)く 'to go'. This is due to the unique perspective that honorific language places the speaker in, in relation to the person that is being respected. This is a slightly advanced concept that we will discuss more later.

To use いらっしゃる, simply replace いる, くる, or いく with いらっしゃる.

Alternatively, いらっしゃる may also be used to replace いる, くる, or いく when they are attached to the て-form of another verb.

Fun Fact

おいでになる is another expression which can replace いる, くる, or いく. This was briefly examined previously in our お～になる grammar point. おいでになる and いらっしゃる are almost completely interchangable.

  • 社長(しゃちょう)は忘年会(ぼうねんかい)においでになると聞(き)きました。
    I heard that the CEO will be at the end of year party.
  • 社長(しゃちょう)は忘年会(ぼうねんかい)にいらっしゃると聞(き)きました。
    I heard that the CEO will be at the end of year party.

Examples

--:--

    分(わ)からない人(ひと)はいらっしゃいますか。

    Is there anyone who doesn't understand?

    お客(きゃく)さんがいらっしゃいました。

    A customer came.

    いらっしゃい(ませ)！

    Welcome!

    先(さき)にいらっしゃったんですが。

    He was here, but...

    今(いま)、西畑(にしはた)先生(せんせい)はいらっしゃいますか。

    Is Nishihata-sensei available now?

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      いらっしゃる – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (18 in total)

      • steffuld

        steffuld

        Hi! Is this the word used in 行ってらっしゃい? If so, what verb does it replace? Is it 来る, meaning imperative “(you) go and come back”? Or is it いる, meaning something like “be gone (respectfully)”?
        Given that we have 行って来ます with 来ます in it, the former seems more likely, but I am still curious

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @steffuld !

        Yes this is the word used in いってらっしゃい！ This word is the combination of 行く in the て-form, and いらっしゃる in its imperative form! Although いらっしゃい is the imperative form and the meaning is close to ‘come’, it has a more welcoming nuance compared to the imperative form of 来る (来い). So a direct translation of いってらっしゃい would be ‘Go and come back home (we will welcome you home)’.

        I hope this answers your question!

      • steffuld

        steffuld

        It does! Thank you so much for the explanation!

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