ございますgozaimasu“the polite form of there is”

ございます (gozaimasu) is the very polite form of あります — “there is,” “we have,” “it is located.” It is JLPT N4 keigo that you hear constantly in shops, hotels, stations, and business emails: お手洗いはあちらにございます — “The restroom is over there.”

You already know it from greetings. ありがとうございます and おはようございます are the same word, fossilised onto adjectives. At N4 you learn to use it on purpose: to make statements about things existing or being somewhere sound as polite as possible.

ございます doesn’t raise or lower anyone. It simply makes the whole sentence more polite toward the listener.

What does ございます mean?

ございます replaces あります when you are speaking very formally. The meaning does not change at all; only the level of politeness does.

• 質問があります。→ 質問がございます。 — I have a question.
• 駅の前に銀行があります。→ 駅の前に銀行がございます。 — There is a bank in front of the station.

In keigo terms, ございます is 丁寧語 (teineigo), polite language. That sets it apart from honorific verbs like いらっしゃる, which raise the person you are talking about, and humble verbs like いたします, which lower yourself. ございます has no “direction.” It is aimed at the listener, the way です and ます are, just one step higher.

Because it replaces あります, it is used for things, places, and abstract items — rooms, products, questions, announcements, time. It is not used for people or animals. For “there is a person,” formal Japanese uses おります (humble, for your own side) or いらっしゃいます (honorific, for others).

How to form ございます

ございます conjugates like any ます-verb. The dictionary form ござる is archaic, so you only ever use the ます forms.

Two related forms are worth recognising now:

• でございます is the very polite version of です: こちらが会議室でございます — “This is the meeting room.” It gets its own lesson in でございます.
• Adjective + ございます appears in set phrases. The adjective changes its ending (ありがたい → ありがとう, はやい → はよう, めでたい → めでとう) and ございます is added. You don’t need to produce new ones at N4 — just recognise the greetings.

When is ございます used?

• Shops and hotels: staff talking to customers. 申し訳ございません, サイズはこちらにございます.
• Announcements: お知らせがございます (“We have an announcement”) in stations, schools, and events.
• Business email and phone calls: ご質問がございましたら、ご連絡ください — “If you have any questions, please contact us.”
• Formal speeches and ceremonies: introductions and thank-yous to an audience.

You would not use ございます with friends, family, or classmates. Even with a teacher or boss, plain ます-form (あります) is usually enough; ございます belongs to service language and formal settings where the speaker deliberately takes a humble, courteous stance.

ございます example sentences

Notice who is speaking in most of these: staff, hosts, organisers. ございます is the voice of someone serving or addressing an audience.

Nuance of ございます

ございます makes you sound courteous and a little formal, like a hotel receptionist. That is exactly its job, and it is also its risk. Among colleagues or with a teacher in a normal conversation, ございます can sound stiff or even slightly comical, as if you had switched into customer-service mode.

It is also a “whole-sentence” choice. If you say ございます, the rest of the sentence usually rises to match: お知らせ instead of 知らせ, ご質問 instead of 質問, お聞きください instead of 聞いてください. A sentence like 質問がございましたら聞いて is mismatched — very polite in one place, casual in another.

💡 Things, not people: ございます only replaces あります. For people, formal Japanese uses いらっしゃいます (someone you respect is there) or おります (your own side is there).

The negative ございません appears mostly in apologies and in telling a customer that something is unavailable. 申し訳ございません is the standard formal apology — a step above すみません and 申し訳ありません.

ございます vs あります

The two mean exactly the same thing. The only difference is how polite you sound and where you are.

When in doubt, use あります. It is never rude. Switch to ございます when you are the one serving, hosting, or making a formal announcement.

Common mistakes with ございます

Is ございます on the JLPT?

A common question type gives a shop clerk’s line with a blank: お客様、こちらにお席が（　）。The answer is ございます. If the blank follows a person — 社長は会議室に（　）— the answer is いらっしゃいます.

Practice questions for ございます

Learning path for ございます

Related grammar to review next

• でございます — the very polite version of です, the partner you most often need next to ございます.
• いらっしゃる — honorific “be” for respected people, used where ございます can’t go.
• いたします — humble “do,” heard in the same shop and email sentences.
• お〜になる — the regular honorific pattern for the customer’s own actions.

Learn ございます with Hane

Hane drills ございます, でございます, and いらっしゃる against real shop and station lines, so you pick the right one for things, facts, and people. Practise N4 keigo in Hane.