〜でござる／でございます: meaning and usage

How to form it

• noun+でございます
• な-adjective (stem)+でございます
• noun+ではございません

How it is used

A very polite stand-in for 「です」, heard from shop and hotel staff, on the phone and in announcements. The negative is 「ではございません」. Plain 「でござる」 is old-fashioned and now mostly appears in period dramas and stories.

Examples

1. 交換台でございます。

   This is the operator.

2. お手洗いはあちらでございます。

   The restroom is over there.

3. こちらがお部屋のかぎでございます。

   Here is your room key.