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I am watching a Japanese TV movie named Samurai High School. In a conversation
there is this sentence: それはようござった。what is the meaning
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2023-02-03T19:31:45.110
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question
grammar
What does よう and ござった mean in this sentence?
It means ‘it was good’. It is a very old fashioned way of saying よかった to
someone.
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2023-02-03T22:38:20.107
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2023-02-03T22:38:20.107
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answer
It is a samura version of modern それはよかったです, which mean _That was good/fine._

Mostly it is used like ございます in modern polite language (e.g.
[this](https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=20391)). The particular よう is
[ウ音便](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF#%E3%82%A6%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF),
like the common おはよ **う** ございます. You can see some examples in [phrases in
Ruroni Kensin](https://matome.eternalcollegest.com/post-2137470306170628001)

Note ござる is never seriously used in modern Japanese.
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2023-02-03T22:46:25.370
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2023-02-04T11:41:59.847
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answer