Structure
ある ￫ ござる
Details
Register
Polite
About ございます
ございます is a combination of the (special-class) verb, ござる (御座る in its kanji form), and the auxiliary verb ます. It is considered polite speech, and is directly equivalent to ある (or いる).
ござる itself is almost never used in daily conversation in modern Japanese, due to the preference of the polite form, ございます. However, ござる is regularly used in dramas, manga, and other forms of media (especially historical dramas).
Fun Fact
御座る literally means 'to be', and it does not matter whether the object that is being described is animate (would usually use いる), or inanimate (would usually use ある). However, いらっしゃる 'to be' is preferred when referring to other people, as honorific language is more respectful than polite speech. Due to this, ございます will often be used in reference to people, in place of であります (the polite form of である).
Notice that で is used in these examples. でございます itself is considered its own grammatical structure, that we will examine in a separate grammar point.
Related
Examples
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
おはよう御座います。
Good morning. (Polite greeting)
お水が御座います。
There is water. (exists)
鶴の折り紙が御座います。
There is an origami crane. (exists)
駅があちらに御座います。
The station is over there. (exists)
明けましておめでとう御座います。
Happy New Year! (polite expression)
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
Other substitutions
Tae Kim
Polite form of ある
Renshuu
Offline
Genki II 1st Edition
Page 158
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 188
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 226
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.