ご存じ: Honorific Know | Japanese Grammar

"Knowing" is one of the trickiest verbs to make polite, because plain "know" in Japanese is already the compound 知（し）っている, and you cannot simply stick an honorific ending on it. The respectful (尊敬語, sonkeigo) form is ご存（ぞん）じだ — and the surprise for English speakers is that it is not a verb conjugation at all. ご存じ is a noun-like predicate: you say ご存じです the way you say 元気です. Master this one form and the awkward "do you know…?" question that trips up every intermediate learner suddenly comes out right.

Knowing expressed as a state, not an action

Plain Japanese already treats "know" oddly: you don't say ×知る for "I know," you say the resultative 知っている ("have come to know and remain in that state"). The honorific pushes this one step further and turns knowing into a nominal predicate: ご存じ + だ／です. There is no ×ご存じする, no ×ご存じます — it takes the copula, like an adjective or noun.

So the polite "Do you know…?" is ご存じですか — never ×知りますか (which is ungrammatical for "know" anyway) and never a manufactured ×お知りになる.

田中さんをご存じですか。

Tanaka-san o gozonji desu ka

Do you know Mr. Tanaka?

この件について、部長はご存じですか。

kono ken ni tsuite, buchō wa gozonji desu ka

Is the manager aware of this matter?

新しい店長のこと、もうご存じですよね。

atarashii tenchō no koto, mō gozonji desu yo ne

You already know about the new store manager, right?

💡

ご存じ patterns like a noun/な-adjective, not a verb. Attach the copula: ご存じです (statement), ご存じですか (question), ご存じでした (past), ご存じない (negative). If you find yourself trying to conjugate it like a verb, stop — the copula does all the work.

The negative and the noun uses

The negative "doesn't know / isn't aware" is ご存じない (or the more formal ご存じではありません). The set opener ご存じないかもしれませんが ("you may not be aware, but…") is a staple of polite explanation.

ご存じないかもしれませんが、来月から料金が変わります。

gozonji nai kamoshiremasen ga, raigetsu kara ryōkin ga kawarimasu

You may not be aware, but the fees change starting next month.

Because ご存じ is nominal, it also modifies nouns directly. ご存じの方 = "someone who knows / those in the know"; ご存じの通り = "as you know" (the honorific twin of ご覧の通り).

ご存じの方も多いと思いますが、当店は今月で閉店いたします。

gozonji no kata mo ōi to omoimasu ga, tōten wa kongetsu de heiten itashimasu

As many of you already know, our shop is closing at the end of this month.

ご存じの通り、駅前の工事はまだ続いております。

gozonji no tōri, ekimae no kōji wa mada tsuzuite orimasu

As you know, the construction in front of the station is still ongoing.

Orthography note: ご存じ vs ご存知

You will see this written both ways. ご存じ is the etymologically correct spelling — the 存じ is the noun form of the humble verb 存（ぞん）ずる／存じる ("to know / think"), so the じ is a verb ending written in kana. ご存知 (with 知) is an 当（あ）て字 (ateji, a phonetic kanji borrowing) that spread precisely because the meaning is "know." Both are widely used and neither will be marked wrong, but ご存じ is preferred in careful writing and by most style guides.

The same root, two directions: the elegant part

Here is the insight that makes this page worth reading. The root 存じ shows up on both keigo axes, and only the framing decides which way it points.

With the honorific prefix ご, aimed at the listener → ご存じだ (sonkeigo, "you know").
Bare, aimed at yourself → 存じる／存じております (kenjōgo, "I know / think").

Same stem, opposite direction — the axis is carried entirely by the prefix and by whose knowing you are talking about, not by a different verb. It is one of the neatest demonstrations in the whole keigo system that respect is about framing, not just vocabulary.

Whose knowing?	Form	Note
the listener's (elevated)	ご存じだ／ご存じです	sonkeigo; nominal predicate
mine, about a thing/fact	存じる／存じております	kenjōgo; humble "know / think"
mine, about a person	存じ上げております	kenjōgo; extra-humble, people only

その件でしたら、私もよく存じております。

sono ken deshitara, watashi mo yoku zonjite orimasu

As for that matter, I'm well aware of it too.

田中様のお名前は、以前から存じ上げております。

Tanaka-sama no o-namae wa, izen kara zonjiagete orimasu

I've known of Mr. Tanaka's name for a long time.

Note the split on the humble side: 存じる (or 存じております) for facts and things, but 存じ上げる — the extra-humble version — when what you "know" is a person. And because 存じる also inherits the old sense "to think," 〜と存じます is a formal humble "I believe / I think." The humble half is developed on the 存じる／存じ上げる page; ご存じ takes its place among the other special honorifics in the sonkeigo overview.

ご出席いただけると幸いに存じます。

go-shusseki itadakeru to saiwai ni zonjimasu

I would be most grateful if you could attend.

Raising it further: ご存じでいらっしゃいますか

For a customer or a genuine VIP, ご存じですか can be lifted one notch higher by swapping the plain copula です for the honorific "be," いらっしゃる (see いらっしゃる). The result — ご存じでいらっしゃいますか — is the polished form you'll hear in upscale service and formal correspondence. It is not double keigo (the honorific attaches to the copula, not to ご存じ), just a maximally deferential "be."

山田様は、この新しい制度をご存じでいらっしゃいますか。

Yamada-sama wa, kono atarashii seido o gozonji de irasshaimasu ka

Are you (Mr. Yamada) aware of this new system?

Save it for when です alone feels too flat — a first-time client, a superior you rarely address. In ordinary polite speech, ご存じですか is already respectful enough.

Common mistakes

Using ご存じ about your own knowledge. This is the error — the humble root 存じ tempts learners to say ×ご存じ of themselves, but the ご is elevating, so it can only point at the listener. Your own "know" is 存じる／存じ上げる.

❌ その件は私もご存じです。

Wrong — ご存じ elevates the listener; you can't apply it to yourself. Use 存じております.

✅ その件は私も存じております。

sono ken wa watashi mo zonjite orimasu

I'm aware of that matter too.

Saying ×ご存じません about yourself. The negative of your own knowing is 存じません, not a self-directed ご存じ.

❌ 申し訳ありませんが、私はその住所をご存じません。

Wrong — again elevating yourself; the humble negative is 存じません／存じ上げません.

✅ 申し訳ありませんが、私はその住所を存じません。

mōshiwake arimasen ga, watashi wa sono jūsho o zonjimasen

I'm sorry, but I don't know that address.

Trying to conjugate ご存じ like a verb. There is no ×ご存じます or ×ご存じする; it takes the copula.

❌ 部長はこのニュースをご存じますか。

Wrong — ご存じ is nominal, so it can't take ます. Use the copula: ご存じですか.

✅ 部長はこのニュースをご存じですか。

buchō wa kono nyūsu o gozonji desu ka

Is the manager aware of this news?

Using 存じ上げる for a mere fact. 存じ上げる is reserved for knowing people; for facts and things it is plain 存じる.

❌ その規則については存じ上げております。

Overshoots — 存じ上げる is for people; a rule is a thing, so use 存じております.

✅ その規則については存じております。

sono kisoku ni tsuite wa zonjite orimasu

I'm aware of that rule.

Key takeaways

ご存じ（だ）is the honorific of 知っている, and it is a nominal predicate — it takes the copula (ご存じです／でした／ない), never verb endings.
Polite "Do you know…?" is ご存じですか; the noun uses ご存じの方 and ご存じの通り are everywhere.
Spell it ご存じ in careful writing (ご存知 is a common ateji, not wrong but secondary).
The root 存じ serves both axes: honorific ご存じ (about the listener) vs humble 存じる／存じ上げる (about yourself) — the prefix and the person decide the direction.
Humble split: 存じる for facts/things, 存じ上げる for people; and 〜と存じます is a formal humble "I think."

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