でございます details
the polite "is", and on its own the polite "there is" — one step above です and あります
お待たせいたしました。こちらが新しいカタログでございます。
o matase itashimashita. kochira ga atarashii katarogu de gozaimasu.
Thank you for waiting. This is the new catalogue. formal
お手洗いは二階にございます。
otearai wa nikai ni gozaimasu.
The restrooms are on the second floor. formal
- formal
- formal
- formal
- negative
- past
Examples
is; this is — the polite copula, in announcements, service and self-introductions
お待たせいたしました。こちらが新しいカタログでございます。
o matase itashimashita. kochira ga atarashii katarogu de gozaimasu.
Thank you for waiting. This is the new catalogue. formal
営業部の田中でございます。本日はよろしくお願いいたします。
eigyoubu no tanaka de gozaimasu. honjitsu wa yoroshiku o negai itashimasu.
I'm Tanaka from the sales department. Thank you for having me today. formal
there is; we have — the polite ある, saying where something is or whether it exists
お手洗いは二階にございます。
otearai wa nikai ni gozaimasu.
The restrooms are on the second floor. formal
申し訳ございませんが、そちらの商品はただ今ございません。
moushiwake gozaimasen ga, sochira no shouhin wa tadaima gozaimasen.
I'm very sorry, but we don't have that item in stock at the moment. formal
Formation
{N}でございますattaches to nounございます（ある→ございます・あります→ございます）attaches to verb stem (special attachment)
Variant notes
- ございます — the polite ある, for goods, facilities and anything else that is simply THERE — お手洗いは二階にございます。
- ございません — its negative, the standard way a shop says it has none — あいにく在庫がございません。
- ございました — its past — お忘れ物がございました。
Notes
ございます is correct. Said TO a guest about themselves it is a mistake —
山田様でいらっしゃいますか is the form there.
Related patterns
Similar
です and でございます both dress the sentence for the listener and neither says a word about who acted; でございます belongs to counters, telephones and correspondence, and using it among colleagues sounds like a rehearsed announcement.
Both make a sentence sound humble, and only 丁重語 is about the act — 参ります says whose journey it is, while ございます says nothing about anyone's action and can be used of a shelf, a floor or a price.
The same copula at the two ends of the register scale: である addresses nobody and belongs to reports and rules, でございます addresses the listener as ceremoniously as Japanese allows — no text uses both.
Lookalikes
The classic mix-up at a reception desk — でございます merely polishes the copula and is the form you use about yourself and about things (田中でございます), while でいらっしゃいます raises the person it describes, so it must go to the guest (山田様でいらっしゃいますか) and never to yourself.