Japanese has a tiny, closed club of five honorific verbs that all end in -る and all break the same rule the same way: いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, くださる, なさる, ござる. Everywhere else they conjugate like ordinary 五段 -る verbs, but at the polite form the り-row stem drops its り and softens to -い-, producing 〜います instead of the regular ×〜ります. Learn the shift once and it unlocks all five at a stroke. This page is the shared-morphology overview; each verb has its own full paradigm linked below, and the usage (whom you may elevate, when) lives in the 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) pages.
The five verbs and their irregular ます-forms
| Dictionary | Meaning (honorific of…) | Polite ます-form | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| いらっしゃる | be / come / go (いる・来る・行く) | いらっしゃいます | ×いらっしゃります |
| おっしゃる | say (言う) | おっしゃいます | ×おっしゃります |
| くださる | give to me (くれる) | くださいます | ×くださります |
| なさる | do (する) | なさいます | ×なさります |
| ござる | be / exist (ある, 丁寧語) | ございます | ×ござります |
The pattern is mechanical: take the ら-row dictionary form, and where a normal 五段 verb would give ～り+ます, these give ～い+ます. なさる → なさいます; くださる → くださいます. Nothing else about them is unusual.
社長は毎朝ジョギングをなさいます。
shachō wa maiasa jogingu o nasaimasu
The company president goes jogging every morning. (なさる → なさいます)
部長は何とおっしゃいましたか。
buchō wa nan to osshaimashita ka
What did the department head say? (おっしゃる → おっしゃいました)
ご不明な点がございましたら、お問い合わせください。
go-fumei na ten ga gozaimashitara, o-toiawase kudasai
If anything is unclear, please contact us. (ござる → ございます)
The anchor: くださる → くださいます
Take くださる ("to give to me," honorific of くれる) as your reference verb, because you meet it constantly inside 〜てくださる ("do a favor for me"). Its polite form is the irregular くださいます; everything else is regular 五段.
| Form | くださる | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | くださる | kudasaru |
| Polite ます | くださいます | kudasaimasu |
| Te-form (regular) | くださって | kudasatte |
| Past (regular) | くださった | kudasatta |
| Plain negative (regular) | くださらない | kudasaranai |
| Imperative | ください | kudasai |
Note the last row: the everyday ください in 〜てください is this verb's imperative, and it too uses the -い- stem (ください), not a regular 五段 ×くだされ. That is the second half of the rule — the -い- stem is obligatory before ます and in the imperative.
先生がいつも励ましてくださいます。
sensei ga itsumo hagemashite kudasaimasu
My teacher always encourages me.
わざわざ来てくださって、ありがとうございます。
wazawaza kite kudasatte, arigatō gozaimasu
Thank you so much for coming all this way. (regular te-form くださって)
The -い- stem also carries the imperative
Every one of the five (except ござる, which has no everyday imperative) makes its command on the same -い- stem: ください, なさい, いらっしゃい, おっしゃい. This is why so many high-frequency polite forms end in -い:
| Verb | Imperative (-い stem) | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| くださる | ください | 〜てください "please do…" |
| なさる | なさい | 〜なさい, a firm "do…" to a child/student |
| いらっしゃる | いらっしゃい(ませ) | いらっしゃいませ "welcome" (shops) |
| おっしゃる | おっしゃい | rare/theatrical "go on, say it" |
宿題は毎日ちゃんとしなさい。
shukudai wa mainichi chanto shinasai
Do your homework properly every day. (なさい, said to a child)
どうぞ、こちらにいらっしゃい。
dōzo, kochira ni irasshai
Come this way, please. (いらっしゃい)
Why it works this way
The -い- is a fossilized イ音便 (イおんびん) — a euphonic softening of the ら-row that this closed honorific class froze into place centuries ago, before ます and the imperative suffix. There is no live rule generating it and no way to predict which verbs belong: the membership is exactly these five, all originating as court/honorific vocabulary. So treat them the way you treat any short irregular set in a language — as a memorized list, drilled together.
Register notes and where each verb lives
Four of the five are 尊敬語 (you raise someone else with them); ござる is 丁寧語, a plain politeness marker with no "elevate the subject" function.
- なさる — honorific do; also the base of 〜なさる honorifics like ご覧なさる. Full なさる paradigm; usage on keigo なさる.
- おっしゃる — honorific say. Usage on keigo おっしゃる.
- いらっしゃる — honorific be / come / go at once. Full いらっしゃる paradigm; usage on keigo いらっしゃる.
- くださる — honorific give to me; the base of ください. Usage on keigo くださる.
- ござる — nowadays only ございます / でございます survive; the bare verb ござる is (archaic), heard in period dramas. Details on でございます.
The one-glance comparison of all five (plus their humble counterparts) is on the suppletive honorific verbs table.
お客様はもうお帰りになりましたか。いいえ、まだいらっしゃいます。
o-kyakusama wa mō o-kaeri ni narimashita ka. iie, mada irasshaimasu
Has the customer already left? No, they're still here.
何かご希望があれば、遠慮なくおっしゃってください。
nanika go-kibō ga areba, enryo naku osshatte kudasai
If you have any requests, please don't hesitate to tell me.
ございます wears two hats
ございます is the odd one out in the set: it is not 尊敬語 but 丁寧語 (plain politeness), and it does two different jobs that beginners blur together.
- Existence — the polite ある: あります → ございます ("there is / we have"). This is the shop-and-signage register.
- Copula — the polite です: です → でございます ("is / it is"), the で of the copula plus ございます.
お手洗いは二階にございます。
o-tearai wa nikai ni gozaimasu
The restroom is on the second floor. (existence = polite ある)
はい、こちらが受付でございます。
hai, kochira ga uketsuke de gozaimasu
Yes, this is the reception desk. (copula = polite です)
Both come from the same verb ござる, and both take the identical -い- stem in ございます / ございません / ございました. The negative existence ございません ("there isn't") is the most deferential way to say ない — the full treatment is on でございます.
How this differs from English
English has no productive politeness conjugation — you show respect with word choice and modal softening ("would you," "could you"), never by re-inflecting the verb. Japanese lexicalizes it: these five verbs are the polite versions of する, 言う, いる/来る/行く, くれる, and ある, and they carry a frozen sound change an English speaker has no template for. The reflex to avoid is the "regularizing" one — hearing an -る verb and forcing the normal 五段 ×〜ります. That instinct is right for 取る and wrong for exactly these five.
Common mistakes
❌ 部長がそうおっしゃりました。
Incorrect — the polite form softens り to い: おっしゃいました.
✅ 部長がそうおっしゃいました。
buchō ga sō osshaimashita
The department head said so.
❌ 社長は何をなさりますか。
Incorrect — なさる → なさいます, never ×なさります.
✅ 社長は何をなさいますか。
shachō wa nani o nasaimasu ka
What will the president do?
❌ 資料を送ってくだされ。
Incorrect — ×くだされ is an archaic (period-drama) imperative; the modern imperative is ください.
✅ 資料を送ってください。
shiryō o okutte kudasai
Please send the materials.
❌ ありがとうござります。
Incorrect — ×ござります is the old Meiji-era form; modern polite is ございます.
✅ ありがとうございます。
arigatō gozaimasu
Thank you.
Key takeaways
- Five -る honorifics share one quirk: the polite form is 〜います, not ×〜ります — いらっしゃいます・おっしゃいます・くださいます・なさいます・ございます.
- The -い- stem also carries the imperative: ください, なさい, いらっしゃい — not regular 五段 ×くだされ/×なされ.
- Everything else about them is regular 五段: te-form くださって, past なさった, negative おっしゃらない.
- The shift is a fossilized イ音便 in a closed class — memorize the five as a set; you cannot predict membership.
- ござる is archaic except for ございます / でございます; the other four are living 尊敬語.
Now practice Japanese
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- いらっしゃる: Full ParadigmN3 — The complete conjugation reference for いらっしゃる — a 五段 ラ行 honorific that is regular in every cell except the -い- polite stem (いらっしゃいます) and the frozen imperative いらっしゃい, and that stands in for いる, 行く, and 来る at once.
- なさる: Full ParadigmN3 — The complete conjugation table for なさる, the honorific of する — a 五段 verb whose ます-stem is the irregular なさいます (never ×なさります) and whose imperative なさい is a downward command, not a courtesy.
- Suppletive 尊敬語 Verbs: TableN3 — The special respectful verbs that replace the plain verb wholesale — いらっしゃる, 召し上がる, ご覧になる, おっしゃる, なさる, くださる, ご存じだ — with their plain bases, their irregular 〜います polite forms, and why you must never re-honorify them with お〜になる.