いらっしゃる is the most useful honorific verb in Japanese and the flagship of the -aru honorific class: one 尊敬語 word that respectfully replaces three plain verbs — いる ("be"), 行く ("go"), and 来る ("come"). This page is the paradigm reference — the full conjugation table and the morphology behind it. For when to use it, how the three meanings are disambiguated, and the crucial in-group/out-group (うち・そと) rules, work through the keigo いらっしゃる teaching page; here we drill the forms.
The full paradigm
いらっしゃる is a 五段 ラ行 verb. It is regular in every cell except the polite (ます) column and the imperative, both of which take the -い- stem.
| Form | いらっしゃる | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Plain forms (all regular 五段) | ||
| Dictionary | いらっしゃる | irassharu |
| Negative | いらっしゃらない | irassharanai |
| Past | いらっしゃった | irasshatta |
| Past negative | いらっしゃらなかった | irassharanakatta |
| Te-form | いらっしゃって | irasshatte |
| Conditional 〜ば | いらっしゃれば | irasshareba |
| Conditional 〜たら | いらっしゃったら | irasshattara |
| Polite forms (the -い- stem) | ||
| Polite non-past | いらっしゃいます | irasshaimasu |
| Polite negative | いらっしゃいません | irasshaimasen |
| Polite past | いらっしゃいました | irasshaimashita |
| Polite past negative | いらっしゃいませんでした | irasshaimasen deshita |
| Imperative | ||
| Imperative / greeting | いらっしゃい(ませ) | irasshai(mase) |
Two signatures stand out: the -い- polite stem (いらっしゃいます) and the frozen imperative いらっしゃい. Everything else is textbook 五段 ラ行. (As a 尊敬語 verb it has no everyday potential, passive, or causative — you don't say "the honored person can be/go" in this frame; those meanings recruit other constructions.)
The -い- stem runs through the entire polite column
The irregularity is not just いらっしゃいます in isolation — the -い- stem carries every ます-based form: negative いらっしゃいません, past いらっしゃいました, past-negative いらっしゃいませんでした. A regular 五段 verb would build these on the り-row (×いらっしゃります, ×いらっしゃりました). It never does. This is the shared -aru honorific quirk: the ら-row stem softens to -い- before ます.
校長先生は今、職員室にいらっしゃいます。
kōchō-sensei wa ima, shokuinshitsu ni irasshaimasu
The principal is in the staff room right now. (= いる)
お客様が三名いらっしゃいました。
o-kyakusama ga sanmei irasshaimashita
Three guests have arrived. (= 来る, polite past)
社長は本日、会社にいらっしゃいません。
shachō wa honjitsu, kaisha ni irasshaimasen
The company president is not in the office today. (polite negative)
Everything outside the ます-column is regular 五段
Here is the half learners under-trust. The plain forms behave exactly like the model 五段 -る verb 取る: the negative is built on the あ-row (取らない → いらっしゃらない), and the te-form and past take the small-っ 促音便 (取って／取った → いらっしゃって／いらっしゃった).
| Cell | Model 取る | いらっしゃる (same pattern) |
|---|---|---|
| Negative | 取らない | いらっしゃらない |
| Te-form (促音便) | 取って | いらっしゃって |
| Past (促音便) | 取った | いらっしゃった |
| Conditional | 取れば | いらっしゃれば |
The te-form deserves a warning of its own: it is the 促音便 いらっしゃって, not ×いらっしゃいて. Learners who have just drilled いらっしゃいます over-extend the -い- stem into the te-form — but the te-form belongs to the plain, regular half of the paradigm.
先生がこちらにいらっしゃって、席に着かれた。
sensei ga kochira ni irasshatte, seki ni tsukareta
The teacher came over and took a seat. (te-form, 促音便)
昨日、大切なお客様がいらっしゃった。
kinō, taisetsu na o-kyakusama ga irasshatta
An important guest came yesterday. (plain past, 促音便)
もし社長がいらっしゃれば、すぐお知らせします。
moshi shachō ga irasshareba, sugu o-shirase shimasu
If the president comes, I'll let you know right away. (conditional)
The imperative いらっしゃい and the frozen いらっしゃいませ
The command form is いらっしゃい — again the -い- stem, not a regular 五段 ×いらっしゃれ. On its own it is a warm "come (here)." Add the polite ませ and you get the ubiquitous shop greeting いらっしゃいませ ("welcome"), a fossilized form you'll hear the moment you step through any Japanese door.
どうぞ、こちらへいらっしゃい。
dōzo, kochira e irasshai
Please, come this way.
いらっしゃいませ、ご予約はございますか。
irasshaimase, go-yoyaku wa gozaimasu ka
Welcome — do you have a reservation? (shop staff)
〜ていらっしゃる: the honorific of 〜ている
Because いらっしゃる also serves as the honorific いる, you can attach it to a te-form to build the respectful version of 〜ている: 待っている → 待っていらっしゃいます ("is waiting," honorific). The auxiliary keeps the same -い- polite stem.
部長は電話中で、しばらく席を外していらっしゃいます。
buchō wa denwa-chū de, shibaraku seki o hazushite irasshaimasu
The department head is on a call and away from the desk for a while.
Don't confuse it with its humble partners
いらっしゃる only ever points upward, at someone else. When the subject is you or your in-group, the same three plain verbs switch to entirely different humble (謙譲語) words — so a paradigm reference has to flag the pairing, because mixing the two directions is the most damaging keigo error you can make.
| Plain verb | Respect others (尊敬語) | Humble self (謙譲語) |
|---|---|---|
| いる (be) | いらっしゃる | おる |
| 行く (go) | 参る ／ 伺う | |
| 来る (come) | 参る ／ 伺う |
先生はあちらにいらっしゃいますが、私は隣の部屋におります。
sensei wa achira ni irasshaimasu ga, watashi wa tonari no heya ni orimasu
The teacher is over there, and I'll be in the next room. (other = いらっしゃる, self = おる)
The direction is the whole point: いらっしゃる elevates the subject, so it can never take a first-person subject. That constraint, and the うち・そと rule that turns your own boss humble in front of an outsider, are developed on the keigo いらっしゃる page.
One form, three verbs — context decides
Because いらっしゃる replaces いる, 行く, and 来る at once, a single conjugated form renders different English verbs depending on the sentence. いらっしゃいますか to someone can mean "are you in?" (いる) or "are you coming?" (来る); direction of motion and particles resolve it — the same cues you already use for the plain verbs. That disambiguation, and the rule that you must never use いらっしゃる about yourself or your own in-group toward an outsider, are worked out in full on the keigo いらっしゃる page. The polite existence pair (ございます for things, いらっしゃいます for people) sits on ございます・いらっしゃいます.
Common mistakes
❌ 部長はもういらっしゃりましたか。
Incorrect — the polite form uses the -い- stem: いらっしゃいました, never ×いらっしゃりました.
✅ 部長はもういらっしゃいましたか。
buchō wa mō irasshaimashita ka
Has the department head already arrived?
❌ どうぞこちらにいらっしゃいてください。
Incorrect — the te-form is the 促音便 いらっしゃって; the -い- stem doesn't reach the te-form.
✅ どうぞこちらにいらっしゃってください。
dōzo kochira ni irasshatte kudasai
Please come this way.
❌ 部長は今日いらっしゃいない。
Incorrect — the plain negative is built on the あ-row: いらっしゃらない, not the -い- stem.
✅ 部長は今日いらっしゃらない。
buchō wa kyō irassharanai
The department head isn't in today.
❌ 私は三時にそちらにいらっしゃいます。
Incorrect — 尊敬語 can't take yourself as subject; your own going is the humble 伺う／参る.
✅ 私は三時にそちらに伺います。
watashi wa sanji ni sochira ni ukagaimasu
I'll come over to you at three. (humble 伺う)
Key takeaways
- いらっしゃる is a 五段 ラ行 honorific replacing いる・行く・来る — context picks the English verb.
- The whole ます-column takes the -い- stem: 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 — never ×いらっしゃります.
- Everything else is regular 五段 like 取る: negative いらっしゃらない, te-form / past いらっしゃって・いらっしゃった (促音便), conditional いらっしゃれば.
- The te-form is いらっしゃって, not ×いらっしゃいて — don't let the -い- stem leak out of the polite column.
- The imperative is いらっしゃい, frozen into the shop greeting いらっしゃいませ; usage and うち・そと rules are on the keigo page.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- The -aru Honorifics: Special 〜います StemsN3 — Five honorific verbs end in -る — いらっしゃる・おっしゃる・くださる・なさる・ござる — and share one quirk: before ます (and in the imperative) the り-row stem softens to -い-, giving いらっしゃいます, not ×いらっしゃります.
- ございます・いらっしゃいます: 丁寧語 ExistenceN3 — The elevated existence and copula reference: ある→ございます (things), だ→でございます, and いる split by direction into honorific いらっしゃいます (a respected person) versus humble おります (yourself and your in-group).
- 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.