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I know what はじめまして means. It means, _pleased_ / _nice to meet you_. When
reading Manga at school to learn these expressions, I see the phrase quite
often.

But there was one Manga where I saw the phrase, いらっしゃいます。What does this phrase
mean? From the Manga, I think it means _welcome_ but does it mean that, or is
it more specific; for example, something like _welcome home_ or _welcome to
this place_ of some sort. The Manga featured a guy saying this idiom to guests
walking into a restaurant.

Please let me know so I understand.

Thank you in advance.
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2018-05-01T03:07:38.947
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2018-12-12T14:42:51.530
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question
meaning words definitions phrases idioms
Meaning of: いらっしゃいます。
いらっしゃいます is the ます form of
[いらっしゃる](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%84%E3%82%89%E3%81%A3%E3%81%97%E3%82%83%E3%82%8B),
which is the honorific or polite form of いる. Used when referring to or
addressing customers, superiors, audience members, guests, etc.

> 「同｛おな｝じような思｛おも｝いをした方｛かた｝は いらっしゃいます か？」 would basically be the polite
> equivalent of 「同じような思いをした人は います か？」

Now, いらっしゃる has multiple nuanced meanings (come, go, be, etc.). In the usage
of いらっしゃいませ, which is the greeting upon entering a place of business, the
'come' definition makes sense. It is in the spirit of 'come on in', but
without a higher level of formality, hence the standard translation as
'welcome'.
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2018-05-01T07:48:08.793
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answer
One of the uses of いらっしゃいます could be in sentences such as:

> ➞ご家族｛かぞく｝はいまどこにいらっしゃるんですか。  
>  [Where does your family live?]
>
> ➞母｛はは｝はいま東京にいますが、父｛ちち｝は京都に住んでいます。  
>  [My mother lives in Tokyo but father lives in Kyoto.]

Here, the first person asks politely about the family of the other person.
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2018-12-12T06:12:40.987
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answer