If you learn one honorific verb, learn いらっしゃる. It is the single most useful piece of 尊敬語 in the language, because it is the honorific of three plain verbs at once — いる ("be, exist"), 来る ("come"), and 行く ("go"). Where English keeps be, come, and go strictly apart, respectful Japanese collapses all three into one word and lets context sort out which is meant. Master its conjugation and its three faces and you can greet a guest, answer the phone politely, and ask where the boss is — all with the same verb.
Three verbs, one word
| Plain verb | Meaning | Honorific | Cue that selects it |
|---|---|---|---|
| いる | be / be present | いらっしゃる | a location + に (…にいらっしゃる) |
| 来る | come | motion toward the speaker / here | |
| 行く | go | motion away toward a destination へ／に |
The disambiguation is the same one you already use for the plain verbs — particles and direction — just wearing an honorific coat:
先生は今、教室にいらっしゃいます。
sensei wa ima, kyōshitsu ni irasshaimasu
The teacher is in the classroom right now. (= いる)
明日のパーティーにはいらっしゃいますか。
ashita no pātī ni wa irasshaimasu ka
Will you be coming to tomorrow's party? (= 来る)
社長は先週、大阪支社へいらっしゃいました。
shachō wa senshū, Ōsaka-shisha e irasshaimashita
The president went to the Osaka branch last week. (= 行く)
The irregular conjugation
いらっしゃる looks like a godan ラ行 verb, and it mostly behaves like one — except the polite form. The ます-form is the irregular いらっしゃいます, never ×いらっしゃります. This is the ラ行 〜います quirk it shares with おっしゃる, なさる, くださる, and ござる.
| Form | いらっしゃる | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| dictionary | いらっしゃる | irassharu |
| polite (ます) | いらっしゃいます | irasshaimasu |
| polite past | いらっしゃいました | irasshaimashita |
| polite negative | いらっしゃいません | irasshaimasen |
| plain past | いらっしゃった | irasshatta |
| te-form | いらっしゃって | irasshatte |
| plain negative | いらっしゃらない | irassharanai |
Everything except the ます-form is regular godan (te-form いらっしゃって, past いらっしゃった, negative いらっしゃらない). Only the ～り→～い softening in front of ます breaks the pattern — so the forms to burn in are いらっしゃいます／いらっしゃいました／いらっしゃいません.
社長は今、席にいらっしゃいません。
shachō wa ima, seki ni irasshaimasen
The president is not at his desk right now. (polite negative)
昨日、田中様がお店にいらっしゃいました。
kinō, Tanaka-sama ga omise ni irasshaimashita
Mr. Tanaka came to the shop yesterday. (polite past)
〜ていらっしゃる: the honorific of 〜ている
Because いらっしゃる also stands in for the いる of the progressive, you can attach it to a te-form to make the honorific of 〜ている — "is (doing)" said respectfully. 待っている ("is waiting") politely becomes 待っていらっしゃる; 知っている ("knows") becomes 知っていらっしゃる (an alternative to ご存じだ).
部長は会議室でお客様を待っていらっしゃいます。
buchō wa kaigishitsu de okyakusama o matte irasshaimasu
The department head is waiting for the client in the meeting room.
先生はそのことをよく知っていらっしゃいます。
sensei wa sono koto o yoku shitte irasshaimasu
The teacher knows that very well.
The service sibling: いらっしゃいませ
Walk into any Japanese shop and you hear it: いらっしゃいませ — "welcome." It is the same root, the imperative-flavored いらっしゃい plus the polite ませ, literally an honorific "come (in)" turned into a greeting to customers. Its softer cousin ようこそいらっしゃいました ("thank you for coming / welcome") uses the full verb. Recognizing the family turns a confusing irregular into one high-yield anchor.
いらっしゃいませ、何名様ですか。
irasshaimase, nanmeisama desu ka
Welcome — how many in your party? (shop staff)
ようこそ我が家にいらっしゃいました。
yōkoso wagaya ni irasshaimashita
Welcome to our home. (host greeting a guest)
うち and そと: never いらっしゃる your own side
This is the point that separates a textbook いらっしゃる from a working one. When you speak to an outsider (そと — a customer, another company), everyone on your side (うち) becomes in-group — including your own 部長 or 社長 — and you must not elevate them. On the phone with an external caller, you refer to your own boss with the humble おる, no honorific title:
申し訳ございません。田中はただいま外出しております。
mōshiwake gozaimasen. Tanaka wa tadaima gaishutsu shite orimasu
I'm very sorry — Tanaka is out of the office right now. (your own colleague, to an outside caller → humble おる, no さん)
But among insiders — talking to a coworker about your shared superior — you keep the honorific:
部長なら、さっき応接室にいらっしゃいましたよ。
buchō nara, sakki ōsetsushitsu ni irasshaimashita yo
The department head? He stepped into the reception room a moment ago. (to a colleague — in-group superior, elevate)
The switch is not about the person's rank but about who is listening: the same 部長 is いらっしゃる to a coworker and おる to a customer. Getting this wrong — いらっしゃる-ing your own president to a client — is a signature learner error that a native ear catches instantly.
Politer siblings: おいでになる and お越しになる
For "come" and "go," いらっしゃる has heavier-duty relatives worth recognizing. お越しになる is an extra-deferential "come," and its request form お越しください ("please come") is the standard wording on invitations and shop signage. おいでになる covers be/come/go like いらっしゃる, with a slightly softer, warmer tone often heard in hospitality.
本日は当店にお越しくださり、ありがとうございます。
honjitsu wa tōten ni okoshi kudasari, arigatō gozaimasu
Thank you for coming to our store today. (announcement / signage)
先生は隣の部屋においでになります。
sensei wa tonari no heya ni oide ni narimasu
The teacher is in the next room.
Common mistakes
Mistake 1 — the ます-form ×いらっしゃります. The most common conjugation slip.
❌ 部長は会議室にいらっしゃりますか。
Wrong ます-form — the ラ行 honorifics soften ～り to ～い before ます.
✅ 部長は会議室にいらっしゃいますか。
buchō wa kaigishitsu ni irasshaimasu ka
Is the department head in the meeting room?
Mistake 2 — using いらっしゃる about yourself. Sonkeigo can never take a first-person subject; your own being/coming/going is humble.
❌ 私は三時にそちらへいらっしゃいます。
Self-elevation — you can't honor your own going; use the humble 参る／伺う.
✅ 私は三時にそちらへ伺います。
watashi wa sanji ni sochira e ukagaimasu
I'll come over to you at three. (humble 伺う)
For your own being present, the humble verb is おる (〜ております), not いらっしゃる.
Mistake 3 — a broken te-form. Learners invent ×いらっしゃいて by analogy with the ます-stem.
❌ こちらにいらっしゃいてください。
Wrong te-form — the te-form is godan-regular いらっしゃって, not ×いらっしゃいて.
✅ こちらにいらっしゃってください。
kochira ni irasshatte kudasai
Please come this way.
Mistake 4 — forcing one fixed English gloss. Learners hear …にいらっしゃいますか as only "are you coming?" and miss "are you in?"
❌ もしもし、田中様は今いらっしゃいますか。（「今から来ますか」だけの意味に取る誤り）
On the phone this asks whether Mr. Tanaka is *there / available*, i.e. いる — not only 来る.
✅ もしもし、田中様は今いらっしゃいますか。
moshimoshi, Tanaka-sama wa ima irasshaimasu ka
Hello — is Mr. Tanaka in at the moment? (phone: = いる)
Key takeaways
- いらっしゃる = the honorific of いる, 来る, and 行く all at once — one word, three meanings, resolved by particles and direction of motion.
- Its polite form is the irregular いらっしゃいます (never ×いらっしゃります); everything else — いらっしゃって, いらっしゃった, いらっしゃらない — is godan-regular.
- 〜ていらっしゃる honorifies 〜ている (待っていらっしゃる, 知っていらっしゃる).
- いらっしゃいませ ("welcome") and ようこそいらっしゃいました share the same root — one family to memorize.
- Never use it about yourself: your own being is humble おる, your own coming/going is 参る／伺う.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Special Sonkeigo VerbsN3 — The suppletive honorific verbs — いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, なさる, 召し上がる and the rest — that replace the productive patterns for Japanese's highest-frequency verbs, plus the ラ行 〜います quirk that ties five of them together.
- おる: Humble Be (Exist)N3 — おる is the humble/courteous (丁重語) counterpart of いる — you use it to lower your own and your in-group's existence — and its progressive 〜ております is the quiet backbone of business fixed phrases like お待ちしております.
- 尊敬語 Overview: Elevating the SubjectN3 — How respectful language raises the person who performs the action — a superior, customer, or out-group figure — through three routes: special honorific verbs, the お〜になる pattern, and the lighter 〜(ら)れる honorific.
- おっしゃる: Honorific SayN3 — The honorific of 言う — how to conjugate its irregular おっしゃいます, why Japanese asks names and opinions through the verb 'say,' and how おっしゃる vs 申す is the cleanest drill for the sonkeigo/kenjougo split.
- なさる: Honorific DoN3 — The honorific of する — how it honorifies thousands of noun＋する verbs in one move, its irregular なさいます, the どうなさいましたか idiom, and why the command なさい is downward, not deferential.