お客様

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: お客様 is a noun read おきゃくさま, meaning guest or customer expressed with respectful language.
• Basic usage: It can appear in a polite request to escort a guest or describe a manager greeting each customer carefully.
  • お客様を入口まで案内してください。 asks that the guest be escorted to the entrance; 店長は一人一人のお客様に丁寧に挨拶した。 says that the manager politely greeted each customer.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• お客様を案内する
  • を marks the guest as the person to be escorted to the entrance.
• 一人一人のお客様に
  • 一人一人 emphasizes addressing customers individually, and に marks each customer as the recipient of the greeting.
• お客様 and 客
  • お客様 is a respectful way to address or refer to a guest or customer, while 客 is the general noun.