Weekly Grammar Deep Dive Week 2 - いらっしゃる; にとって and 〜ようとおもう・〜おうとおもう

Welcome to the second ever “Weekly Grammar Deep Dive Thread”!

Weekly Grammar Deep Dive - Home Thread

Last Weeks Thread : Weekly Grammar Deep Dive Week 1 - より~の方が ; からいうとand べからず

The concept behind these threads is that we as a community will have discussions and research three grammar points together each week. Feel free to go as deep as you want, ask as many questions as you want and together we will try to get to the absolute bottom of it all ^^

Which grammar points we chose each week is up to the community, I (for the moment) will choose 10 grammar points out of the ones available on BunPro and put them all in a poll. The top three results will be chosen as the grammar points we will discuss next week (from now on you all get three votes instead of just one ^^ ).

This weeks grammar points are :

I am going to open up the next grammar thread on saturdays, while technically not a new week it fits better in my personal schedule.

Next weeks grammar?

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Honestly, like 90% of this write-up came from one fantastic article if you can read Japanese with some ease I’d suggest you read that one instead of my English write-up, the article is fantastic! (Also, another great article for some similar keigo with great expressions on comparisons from the same site is this one

「いらっしゃる」

It is a respectful term for 「行く」, 「来る」and「居 る」. It is also used as a honorific term for 「ある」and「いる」. Because it has varied meaning, it’s important to understand the usage by context.

Due to 「いらっしゃる」having several possible meanings it is very important to use the correct particle and to add the target word. If used ambiguously the opposite party can infer the exact opposite of what you meant.

Note : When using 「いらっしゃる」as an honorific expression for the auxilary verbs 「ある」and「いる」that it expresses a higher level of respect.

Difference from おられる

There is another word similar to 「いらっしゃる」, namely 「おられる」. 「おられる」is the result of appending the auxilary verb 「れる」to 「居る」. It can be said to be a quasi-synonym of 「いらっしゃる」in the sense of being (居る).

(A) お客様(きゃくさま)応接室(おうせつしつ)におられます。 (The guests are in the reception room)

(B) 事務所(じむしょ)におられるのを()かけました。(I saw you at the office)

The main advantage of using 「おられる」over 「いらっしゃる」is that it helps to avoid ambiguity.

Using 「いらっしゃる」as a replacement for 「行く」

(A) どちらへいらっしゃいますか? (Where are you going?)

(B) 昨日(きのう)大阪(おおさか)までいらっしゃったようですね。(You went to Osaka yesterday, didn’t you?)

セミナーは 来月(らいげつ)予定(よてい)しております。ぜひご一緒(いっしょ)にいらっしゃいませんか。(The seminar is scheduled for next month. Please come with us.)

(つた)えしたいことがございますので、受付(うけつけ)までいらしてください。(I have something to tell you, so please come to the reception.)

In order to accurately convey the meaning of 「いく」it is important to add a word that describes the destination. If you want to ask the person to “go” somewhere, you can (should?) often change the form to 「いらしてください」.

Using 「いらっしゃる」as a replacement for 「来る」

社長(しゃちょう)がこちらまでいらっしゃいます。(The president is on his way here.)

イギリス から時間(じかん)をかけていらっしゃいました。(He took the time to come from England.)

(さき)ほど連絡(れんらく)があり、明日(あした)の10()にいらっしゃるとのことです。(He just got in touch with me, he said he will be there tomorrow at 10:00.)

Note : It is important to add where you are leaving from and where you are arriving to avoid confusion with other meanings.

Using 「いらっしゃる」as a replacement for 「居る」

〇〇さまはいらっしゃいますか?(Is Mr. 〇〇 here?)

社長(しゃちょう)がここにいらっしゃると心強(こころづよ)いです。(It is reassuring to know that the president is here.)

どうぞ、その場所(ばしょ)にいらっしゃってください。(Please come to the place. Note: Especially handy for extra-formal drug hand-offs ^^)

As noted above, if it is difficult to convey the meaning, you can always use 「おられる」.

Using 「いらっしゃる」as a replacement for 「ある」or「いる」

客様(きゃくさま)大変(たいへん)(よろこ)んでいらっしゃいました。(The customer was very pleased.)

いつもお(うつく)しくていらっしゃる。(You always look so beautiful.)

あそこに(すわ)っていらっしゃるのが先生(せんせい)です。(The person sitting over there is the teacher.)

いつまでもお元気(げんき)でいらっしゃいますね。(I hope you will always be in good health.)

Note : It is combined here with either the 「で」particle or as the conjunctive form of an adjectival verb.

Quasi-synonyms

If the context is likely to be construed as misleading there are a lot of quasi-synonyms to clear up the meanings, namely :

For 「行く」meanings : 「行かれる」or「おいでになる」

For 「来る」meanings : 「おいでになる」,「お見えになる」and「お越しになる」

For 「居る」meanings : 「おいでになる」and「おられる」

Differences between 「いらっしゃる」and 「お-になる」

「おいでになる」also has the「行く」,「来る」and「居る」meanings that 「いらっしゃる」has, but it has a more respectful connotation. Both can be used interchangeably, but you would use 「おいでになる」when you want to show more respect.

客様(きゃくさま)はまもなくこちらへおいでになります。(The customer will be here shortly.)

発表会(はっぴょうかい)にはもうおいでになりましたか? (Have you been to the presentation yet?)

社長(しゃちょう)本日(ほんじつ)会社(かいしゃ)においでになります。(The president is coming to the office today.)

Differences between 「いらっしゃる」and 「お越しになる」

While 「お越しになる」technically also has the 「行く」meaning, it is more often used for its 「来る」meaning. It is easier to understand the “coming” meaning than 「いらっしゃる」and can be used to emphasize the fact that you are coming. The interpretation of using 「お越しになる」over 「おいでになる」is that you appreciate the effort to come more (that they are going out of their way to come).

披露宴(ひろうえん)は11()から(はじ)まりますので、ぜひ皆様(みなさま)でお()しください。(The reception will start at 11:00 a.m., so please come with everyone.)

本日(ほんじつ)はお(さむ)いなか、お()しくださいましてありがとうございます。Thank you for coming despite it being so cold.)

明日(あした)まで展示(てんじ)しておりますので、ぜひお()しくださいませ。(The exhibition will be open until tomorrow, so please do come.)

Differences between 「いらっしゃる」and「お見えになる」

「お見えになる」also means to come, but seemingly used almost exclusively towards “untouchable” (god-like) figures. (e.g. the imperial family, politicians, scholars, doctors, customers …). It is a respectful term that refers to the arrival of a superior, however, it shouldn’t be used for one of your superiors (as in your boss). If you have a good relation with your boss you could use 「いらっしゃる」 , but in most cases one would err on the safe side and use 「お見えになる」 .

A note on 二重敬語

some 二重敬語 (redundant keigo) can be found in the wild with many of these grammar points. People use it to elevate someone to an even higher position, and while technically incorrect, it is used often enough (daily by some) that it could be considered correct.

Examples :

  • 「お見えになられる」
  • 「お越しになられる」
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So I kinda have a question about this one. I don’t really know a lot about japanese culture so I get kind of confused. Why would anyone bother saying this? I know it says it’s honorific but I just seems like you’d come off as pretentious if you talked like this. Could I get an example of when you are supposed to talk like this?

If you work in a public-facing job you use a lot of this, but if you’re just visiting then chances are you’re never going to use it and you’re just going to hear it. You’ll hear a lot of it from hotel staff, city hall workers, restaurants (sometimes), and businesses that call you on the phone to inform you of something for whatever reason. Personally, in my town, the only times I ever hear it are on visits to city hall.

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OH okay now I get it. That’s what I needed to get where you use it.

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