How to Say ‘Is/are; polite ending used with greetings’ in Japanese
ございます
gozai masu
[goh-zah-ee mahss]
💬 Usage Tip: [ございます] is a very polite form related to [ある]. In greetings like [おはようございます], it boosts politeness rather than adding a separate concrete meaning.
🇯🇵 In Japan: You will hear [ございます] in customer service, announcements, and formal speech. It has a neat "service-language" feel in Japan.
Phrase Breakdown
ござい
gozai
[goh-zah-ee]
to exist; polite part of a formal expression
ござい comes from a very polite verb form used in set expressions like greetings and customer service language.
店では丁寧にございを使う言い方を聞きます。
At shops, you hear ways of speaking that politely use gozai.
ます
masu
[mahss]
polite verb ending
ます is a basic polite ending attached to verbs in everyday formal Japanese.
先生に話すとき、ますを使います。
When speaking to a teacher, I use masu.
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