This means 'is not' or 'are not'. You use it to show great respect to someone.
Noun + ではいらっしゃいませんPrimary
な-Adjective + ではいらっしゃいません
This means 'is not' or 'are not'. You use it to show great respect to someone.
田中様は、部長ではいらっしゃいません。
Mr. Tanaka is not the department head.
当時、山田先生はまだ教授ではいらっしゃいませんでした。
At that time, Professor Yamada was not yet a full professor.
お客様がお探しの方は、あちらの紳士ではいらっしゃいません。
The person you are looking for, valued customer, is not that gentleman over there.
会長は、この件にご不満ではいらっしゃいませんか。
Mr. Chairman, might you be dissatisfied with this matter? (lit. Are you not dissatisfied...?)
あの方は有名な俳優さんではいらっしゃいますが、今回の主演ではいらっしゃいません。
That person is a famous actor, but they are not the lead in this current production.
This is different from 〜ではございません. Both are polite ways to say "is not." But 〜ではいらっしゃいません shows high respect for the person you are talking about. 〜ではございません is just polite. It does not show special respect.
Don't use this when talking about things that are not people. For example, you can't say 'That car is not.'
Use this when you want to ask a question very politely. It makes your question soft and gentle. You show great respect to the other person. You can confirm something without being too direct.
Track your mastery
Kumi's KMT system tracks your mastery across kanji, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Create a free account to use it on 220,000+ concepts.