お見えになるcome, arrive (respectful)
お客様がお見えになりました, "the guest has arrived". A respectful "come", for a guest, a customer or someone senior who arrives where you are.
The guest has arrived.
Has Professor Tanaka arrived yet?
How to form it
(person が／は) + お見えになる
A fixed phrase. Only なる changes: お見えになります, お見えになりました, お見えになっています. It has a short form too: お見えです.
- Means
- Come, arrive, be here. Not "go", and not "look": a respectful "look" is ご覧になる.
- Where you'll meet it
- Reception desks and offices, restaurants and hotels, ceremonies.
In use
Someone from one of our clients arrived a little while ago.
I hear the chair of the board will be coming to tomorrow's ceremony too.
The teacher is already at the venue.
なっています: came, and is still there.
Never your own coming
It raises the one who comes. Your own coming takes a humble verb, and so does a colleague's when you are speaking to a customer.
Not said: 明日の
(I will come at three tomorrow.)
三時に伺います.
Other respectful words for "come"
見えるcome: the lighter one
The teacher's here.
Respectful already, and fine in casual talk. お見えになる is the formal version of it.
おいでになるgo, come, be
Will you be coming to tomorrow's meeting?
Covers what いらっしゃる covers, and is heard less often.
お越しになるcome, make the trip
Where have you come from today?
For a guest's or a customer's trip to you, and the one to invite with: お越しください. お見えになる makes no request: お見えください isn't said.
Close neighbours
いらっしゃるN4
The everyday respectful verb: go, come or be, said to a person or about them. お見えになる is only the coming, and is mostly said about someone. To a visitor's face, いらっしゃる or お越しになる is more usual.
The department head is going to Osaka next week.
The everyday meaning: something is in sight. 先生が見えた can be either, and the situation says which.
You can see the sea from this room.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
まもなく
Choose an answer to see why.
2You tell a client that you will visit their office. Which one fits?
来週の
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
About what time will the customer arrive?
Which customer is due to come?
to a colleague
The branch manager has not arrived yet.
to a colleague
When the managing director arrives, please show them this way.