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Difference between にございます and でございます

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GenjiMain

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Hi all. にございます and でございます, what's the difference?

Thanks.
 
ございます is a very polite form of あります, if that gives a hint at their respective uses, which are not interchangeable:

にございます／にあります would be for indicating (politely) the location of something.
でございます is a politer version of であります, which in turn is a polite (or more formal/literate) version of です.
 
In addition to nice gaijin-san's explanation, there are cases where those two expressions are interchangeable. For example, にございます can work as a classical version of です.

殿：あそこにおるのは誰じゃ。
部下: 佐助にございます。（＝佐助でございます。/佐助です。)

Lord: Who is that?
Subordinate: He is Sasuke.
 
Interesting! Is this the kind of phrase we might hear in jidai-geki? Are there any modern usages like this?
 
Toritoribe said:
A butler may use for the upper-classes, but it's rarely used in daily conversations.
Click to expand...

My host-mom used to answer the phone like this. 芦田でございます.
Well she probably still does but I haven't seen her answer the phone in 25 years. I've visited since then but no phone calls happen to come in during those times.
 
Yes, ～でございます works as a very polite version of ～です. If I hear a phone answer 芦田にございます, I would think that I might call a 腰元(a woman who works as a servant for a noble person in former times) or something mistakenly.
 
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