ございます — Formal あります (to exist / have)
The highest-formality equivalent of あります (existence/possession of inanimate things). Used identically in customer service, formal business, and service contexts.
Structure
[Noun] が ございます / [Place] に ございます
Examples
本日は特別セールがございます。
Honjitsu wa tokubetsu sēru ga gozaimasu.
Today there is a special sale.
ございます = formal あります
こちらにパンフレットがございます。
Kochira ni panfuretto ga gozaimasu.
Pamphlets are available here.
こちら (polite 'here') + ございます
ご不明の点がございましたら、お申し付けください。
Go-fumei no ten ga gozaimashitara, o-mōshitsuke kudasai.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
ございましたら = formal conditional "if there is"
• The Thank You Origin: "ありがとうございます" breaks down into "ありがたい" (rare, hard to come by) + "ございます" (it is) — "it is a rare thing [that you would do this for me]." • In Conditions: ご不明の点がございましたら (If there are any unclear points...) is a standard corporate email closer.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ございます is tested against.
vs あります (polite exist)
あります is standard polite. ございます is one register higher, used by service staff to customers or in formal writing; it sounds overly deferential in everyday peer conversation.
vs でございます (formal copula)
ございます alone = formal 'there is / we have' (replaces ある). でございます = formal 'is' (replaces the copula です). Don't confuse the existential and the copula uses.
More honorific language
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