You may have heard the word gozaimasu [ございます] in expressions like ohayou, omedetou, and arigatou gozaimasu. So what the hell does the expression gozaimasu mean? Many claim that it means "very" as in thank you very much (arigatou gozaimashita), but does it really mean that?
The word go-za-i-ma-su (御座います) is composed of the ideograms honorific [御] and position [御] and is usually written only in hiragana. The main meanings of the word are to be, to exist, or to have. This word is mainly used in keigo, in place of arimasu [あります] or desu [です].
Your appearance in expressions like thank you very much or congratulations gives an impression of strength, but in reality it is expressing humility and politeness. Using these expressions without gozaimasu is common when we are among friends or intimate people where we don't need to use formality.
Table of Content
Gozaru - The origin of Gozaimasu
To understand the true meaning of gozaimasu (ございます) we must first understand its origin. The word gozaimasu is nothing but a formal version of the verb gozaru [御座る] which is the verb to be (in English the famous verb to be). If you've watched anime or samurai movies, you must have heard endless phrases ending in curtiru.
In the past, "gozaru" was literally the polite form of "aru; iru" [ある; いる], but it was used for both people and inanimate objects. Nowadays, "gozaru" is only used in Japanese in the forms "gozaimasu", "gozaimashita", "gozaimashitara" and the famous "desu" which is a contraction of "degozaru" (でござる).
Sometimes when we talk about the verb to be in Japanese, some have misconceptions. To try to simplify the being of the verb curtiru and derivatives better, we can compare it with the [=] sign in sentences where we are saying things like [My name = Kevin]. I don't think I need to mention that gozaimashita is the past tense of curtiru in the masu form.
Using the expression gozaimasu
You won't hear the verb gozaimasu just when they say good morning, thank you or congratulations. If you go to a restaurant, the employees there will probably use keigo and say gozaimasu instead of aru. To finish the article, we will leave some example sentences for you to understand more about this subject:
Responsive Table: Scroll the table to the side with your finger >>
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| We have something special for you, sir. (dish) | 特別料理がございますが。 | Tokubetsu ryōri ga gozaimasuga. |
| Do you have a particular style in mind? | 特にお望みの型はございますか。 | Tokuni o nozomi no kata wagozaimasuka. |
| This is an operator. | 交換台でございます | Kōkandai degozaimasu |
| Do you have any messages? | 何かご伝言はございますか。 | Nanika go dengon wagozaimasuka. |
| we have safes | セーフティーボックスがございます。 | Sēfutībokkusu gagozaimasu. |
| How many pieces of luggage do you have? | お荷物はいくつございますか。 | O nimotsu wa ikutsu gozaimasuka. |
| We also have some local wines. | いくつかこの土地のワインもございます。 | Ikutsu ka kono tochi no wain mogozaimasu. |