いらっしゃる (irassharu) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Be

The verb いらっしゃる (irassharu) means be, come, go and is the honorific form of 居(い)る, 来(く)る and 行(い)く.

It replaces these verbs in contexts where it is appropriate to use the Japanese honorific language: the Keigo.

It is also used in conjunction with the て form of another verb.

In this post we learn more about the meaning of いらっしゃる, how it is formed and when いらっしゃる is used through real example sentences.

How to form いらっしゃる

いらっしゃる is used in the sentence instead of the verbs:

• 居(い)る be, stay, remain
• 来(く)る come
• 行(い)く go

How and when to use いらっしゃる

いらっしゃる belongs to the 敬(けい)語(ご), the Japanese honorific language, specifically to the 尊(けい)敬(けい)語(ご): the language of respect that elevates and emphasises the status of our interlocutor.

It is never used in the first person and in the context of 内(うち) uchi, the inside or the interior: our family members and close friends.

いらっしゃる is used in the sphere of 外(そと) soto, outside, that includes all people outside the intimate sphere: acquaintances, strangers towards whom it is appropriate to use a formal language.

Plain form and Polite form

いらっしゃる is the dictionary form; the various conjugations of both the plain form and the polite form in ます are used:

• いらっしゃる / いらっしゃいます in the present affirmative
• いらっしゃらない / いらっしゃいません present negative
• いらっしゃった / いらっしゃいました past affirmative
• いらっしゃらなかった / いらっしゃいませんでした past negative

Form ていらっしゃる

いらっしゃる is also used preceded by the て form and is the honorific form of ている, てある, ていく and です.

The copula だ the plain form, です the polite form and でいらっしゃる the honorific form.

• 住(す)んでいらっしゃる in its informal version is 住(す)んでいる

Synonyms of いらっしゃる

いらっしゃる can be replaced by various other forms of the honorific language.

• お越(こ)しください: imperative of the form お～ください: please come in
• お越(こ)しくださる dictionary form: come

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

お越(こ)しくださいまして誠(まこと)にありがとうございます。

Thank you very much for visiting us.

• お見(み)えになる: arrive

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

お見(み)えになる。目(め)上(うえ)の方(かた)が来(く)ることを指(さ)す尊(そん)敬(けい)語(ご)。

O-mie ni naru: respectful term referring to the coming of a superior.

• おいでになる written in kanji is お出(い)でになる: come, go

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

展(てん)示(じ)会(かい)へはもうおいでになりましたか？

Have you been to the exhibition yet?

• 来(く)る come and 行(い)く go: are Keigo forms obtained from the passive structure of the verb.

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

お客(きゃく)様(さま)がたった今(いま)、来(こ)られました。

The customer has just arrived.

• おられる be, exist

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

お昼(ひる)休(やす)みに入(い)りましたが、課(か)長(ちょう)はまだ会(かい)議(ぎ)室(しつ)におられるのですか。

It is now lunchtime, is the section manager still in the conference room?

いらっしゃいませ derives from the honorific verb いらっしゃる that we are studying in this post and is commonly used by shopkeepers, restaurant staff and other public places as a form of greeting to welcome customers.

The shortened form of いらっしゃいませ is いらっしゃい and is considered less formal than いらっしゃいませ.

Example of いらっしゃる