おっしゃる: Honorific Say | Japanese Grammar

おっしゃる is the 尊敬語 of 言う ("to say") — the word you use to elevate a superior's or a customer's act of speaking. It matters far beyond "the boss said": Japanese routinely asks for names, opinions, and repetitions through the verb say rather than through a copula, so おっしゃる is the polite gateway to a whole family of everyday questions — "what's your name?", "what did you say?", "what do you call this?" Learn its one irregular form and its humble twin 申す, and you have a clean, self-contained lesson in the two axes of keigo.

Conjugation — the ラ行〜います quirk

おっしゃる is one of the five ラ行 honorifics whose polite form softens ～り to ～い: the ます-form is おっしゃいます, never ×おっしゃります.

Form	おっしゃる	Reading
dictionary	おっしゃる	ossharu
polite (ます)	おっしゃいます	osshaimasu
polite past	おっしゃいました	osshaimashita
polite negative	おっしゃいません	osshaimasen
plain past	おっしゃった	osshatta
te-form	おっしゃって	osshatte
plain negative	おっしゃらない	ossharanai

As with いらっしゃる, only the ます-form is irregular; the te-form (おっしゃって), plain past (おっしゃった), and negative stem (おっしゃら〜) are all godan-regular.

部長がおっしゃった通りにします。

buchō ga osshatta tōri ni shimasu

I'll do exactly as you said, sir. (plain past おっしゃった)

先生は、それは間違いだとおっしゃいました。

sensei wa, sore wa machigai da to osshaimashita

The teacher said that that was a mistake. (と marks the quoted content)

"Say" is how Japanese asks your name

Here is the insight that pays off daily. To ask someone's name politely, Japanese does not say "what is your name?" with a copula — it asks, literally, how do you say [it]?, using おっしゃる:

お名前は何とおっしゃいますか。

onamae wa nan to osshaimasu ka

What is your name, please? (lit. 'as for your name, how do you say it?')

The pattern is 「〜と言う／おっしゃる」— "to be called ～." What you would frame with be in English, Japanese frames with say/call. The same construction handles "what do you call this in Japanese?" and, turned back on the listener, "what did you (just) say?" — which is the polite way to ask someone to repeat themselves:

これは日本語で何とおっしゃいますか。

kore wa nihongo de nan to osshaimasu ka

What is this called in Japanese? (asking an esteemed listener)

すみません、今、何とおっしゃいましたか。

sumimasen, ima, nan to osshaimashita ka

Sorry, what did you just say? (polite 'pardon?')

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何とおっしゃいましたか is the most graceful way to say "pardon?" to a superior or customer. It is softer than え？ or もう一度お願いします because it credits the speaker with having said something worth repeating, rather than flagging your own failure to hear.

The sonkeigo/kenjougo split, drilled on one verb

"Say" is the cleanest verb in the language for feeling the two directions of keigo, because English gives you no cue at all which to pick — both are just "say." When the speaker is someone you honor, you elevate with おっしゃる. When the speaker is you (or your うち-group), you humble down with 申す／申し上げる. Same event, opposite words, chosen entirely by who is talking.

Who is speaking	Verb	Example
a superior / customer	おっしゃる (elevate)	先生がおっしゃいます
you / your group	申す・申し上げる (humble)	私が申します

社長がそうおっしゃるなら、間違いないでしょう。

shachō ga sō ossharu nara, machigai nai deshō

If the president says so, it must be right. (elevate the president)

はじめまして、田中と申します。

hajimemashite, Tanaka to mōshimasu

Nice to meet you — my name is Tanaka. (humble your *own* name)

Look at the mirror: お名前は何とおっしゃいますか to ask their name, but 田中と申します to give your own. The choice encodes who the subject is — which is the first decision in every keigo sentence. (For weaving the two axes into one utterance, see mixing the axes.)

そうおっしゃらずに and other set phrases

The negative stem おっしゃら〜 shows up in a warm, very common phrase for gently overriding someone's refusal — そうおっしゃらずに, "don't say that / don't be like that":

そうおっしゃらずに、ぜひ召し上がってください。

sō ossharazu ni, zehi meshiagatte kudasai

Don't say that — please, do have some. (pressing food on a polite guest)

遠慮なさっているようですが、どうぞそうおっしゃらないでください。

enryo nasatte iru yō desu ga, dōzo sō osshara nai de kudasai

You seem to be holding back — please don't say that.

Relaying what someone said

Half of what you do with "say" is report it, and おっしゃる handles reported speech with the quotative と. The progressive 〜とおっしゃっていました ("was saying") is the natural way to relay something an esteemed person said earlier — it frames the words as a lingering message rather than a one-off act:

社長は、来週の会議は延期するとおっしゃっていました。

shachō wa, raishū no kaigi wa enki suru to osshatte imashita

The president was saying that next week's meeting will be postponed.

先生がよろしくとおっしゃっていました。

sensei ga yoroshiku to osshatte imashita

The teacher said to say hello. (passing along regards)

But watch the うち／そと flip. When you relay your own boss's words to an outsider, your boss is now in-group, so you switch axes and humble the speaking with 申す — you cannot おっしゃる your own side to a customer:

弊社の田中が、明日そちらに伺うと申しております。

heisha no Tanaka ga, ashita sochira ni ukagau to mōshite orimasu

Our Mr. Tanaka says he'll visit you tomorrow. (relaying your own side's words to a client → humble 申す)

💡

The verb of speaking follows the same うち／そと logic as the person: 先生がおっしゃる (elevate an outsider-superior) but 弊社の者が申す (humble your own side to a client). Decide whose "say" it is relative to the listener before you pick the verb.

The written form 仰る and 〜とおっしゃる方

In writing you will meet おっしゃる spelled 仰る, from the noun 仰せ ("a word handed down from above") — the etymology literally frames the speech as coming from someone elevated, which is why the verb feels respectful rather than neutral. You will also meet 〜とおっしゃる方 ("a person called ～" / "someone who says ～") as the polite way to refer to a third party by name:

山田とおっしゃる方から、お電話がありました。

Yamada to ossharu kata kara, odenwa ga arimashita

There was a call from someone named Yamada. (receptionist relaying)

先生が仰る通り、この問題は簡単ではありません。

sensei ga ossharu tōri, kono mondai wa kantan de wa arimasen

Just as the teacher says, this problem is not simple. (仰る in writing)

Common mistakes

Mistake 1 — the ます-form ×おっしゃります.

❌ 先生は何とおっしゃりましたか。

Wrong ます-form — the ラ行 honorific is おっしゃいます／おっしゃいました.

✅ 先生は何とおっしゃいましたか。

sensei wa nan to osshaimashita ka

What did the teacher say?

Mistake 2 — using おっしゃる about your own speech. Your "say" is humble.

❌ 私がそうおっしゃいました。

Self-elevation — you can't honor your own speaking; use humble 申す／申し上げる.

✅ 私がそう申し上げました。

watashi ga sō mōshiagemashita

I said so. (humble, about yourself)

Mistake 3 — regularizing 言う with a template.

❌ 課長がそうお言いになりました。

Wrong — 言う has the special form おっしゃる; ×お言いになる is not used.

✅ 課長がそうおっしゃいました。

kachō ga sō osshaimashita

The section chief said so.

Mistake 4 — asking a name with a copula instead of 'say.' English speakers translate "what is your name?" literally.

❌ あなたのお名前は何ですか。

Grammatical but blunt — using あなた and a copula is too direct for polite service or business.

✅ お名前は何とおっしゃいますか。

onamae wa nan to osshaimasu ka

May I ask your name? (the natural polite form)

Key takeaways

おっしゃる = honorific 言う; its polite form is the irregular おっしゃいます (never ×おっしゃります), with regular te-form おっしゃって and past おっしゃった.
Japanese asks names, calls-it, and "pardon?" through say: お名前は何とおっしゃいますか, 何とおっしゃいましたか — not through a copula.
It pairs with humble 申す／申し上げる: honor their speaking, humble your own — the cleanest drill for the sonkeigo/kenjougo split.
Set phrase そうおっしゃらずに = "don't say that," a gentle way to override a refusal.
Never use おっしゃる about yourself, and never regularize 言う to ×お言いになる.

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Conjugation — the ラ行 〜います quirk