丁寧語 details
Examples
polite style — the everyday です・ます a sentence takes when there is a listener to be considerate of
私は大学で経済を勉強しています。
watashi wa daigaku de keizai o benkyou shite imasu.
I'm studying economics at university. neutral
すみません、この電車は東京駅に止まりますか。
sumimasen, kono densha wa toukyoueki ni tomarimasu ka.
Excuse me — does this train stop at Tokyo Station? neutral
お手洗いは二階でございます。
otearai wa nikai de gozaimasu.
The restrooms are on the second floor. formal
Formation
動詞＋ます・名詞／形容詞＋です（行きます・学生です・寒いです）attaches to verb stem (special attachment)一段上の形（ある→ございます・だ→でございます・いい→よろしい）attaches to verb stem (special attachment)
Notes
yourself included. Respect for the person in the sentence is a separate
choice and stacks on top: 先生がいらっしゃいます。
Related patterns
Similar
They answer different questions — 丁寧語 asks who is LISTENING, 尊敬語 who is being TALKED ABOUT; a polite sentence about a friend takes です・ます alone (田中さんは行きます), and only when the subject is someone to be looked up to do the two stack (先生はいらっしゃいます).
です and でございます both dress the sentence for the listener and neither says a word about who acted; でございます belongs to counters, telephones and correspondence, and using it among colleagues sounds like a rehearsed announcement.
The two styles a whole text has to choose between — です・ます addresses a reader directly and suits letters, speeches and anything spoken, while である addresses nobody and suits reports, essays and rules; picking one commits every sentence in the text to it.
Lookalikes
ございます and おります sound equally ceremonious, and only 丁重語 makes a claim about whose act it is — おります can only be said of your own side, while ございます is free to describe a shelf, a floor or the customer's own bag.
Combines with
The top step of this same politeness ladder — です rises to でございます and あります to ございます, without any change in who the sentence is about.