いらっしゃる・召し上がる・おっしゃる・ご覧になる・なさる
Special honorific verbsmachine translation
FormationSpecial honorific verbs that completely replace the regular verb: 行く・来る・いる→いらっしゃる、食べる・飲む→召し上がる、言う→おっしゃる、見る→ご覧になる、する→なさる、くれる→くださる
A small group of the most important verbs have their OWN honorific forms, which completely replace the regular verb when the subject is a social superior: いらっしゃる (replacing all three of 行く・来る・いる), 召し上がる (食べる・飲む), おっしゃる (言う), ご覧になる (見る), なさる (する), くださる (くれる). Since these are everyday verbs, you will hear them constantly in shops and offices — memorize them like vocabulary.
Be careful when conjugating them into the ます-form: this group is irregular, changing り to い — いらっしゃいます、おっしゃいます、なさいます、くださいます (not ×いらっしゃります). You have actually been using them for a long time without realizing it: the shop greeting いらっしゃいませ is いらっしゃる itself, and the ください in 〜てください comes from くださる.
Remember the chapter's golden rule: use these verbs only for the actions of a SOCIAL SUPERIOR, never for yourself — "I am going" must be まいります (see the humble verbs lesson). For verbs without a special form, you elevate them with the お〜になる pattern or れる・られる, covered in the next two lessons; if a word has both a special form and a pattern form, the special form always takes priority (say ご覧になる, not ×お見になる).
Examples
社長は今、会議室にいらっしゃいます。
The company president is in the meeting room right now.
先生は何を召し上がりますか。
What will you have, sensei?
この映画をもうご覧になりましたか。
Have you seen this movie yet?