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本人 (běn rén) — (formal) I, me (used in official or written contexts); (formal) the person concerned, oneself (used in documents to refer to the relevant person)

Definition

本人 is a formal, written first-person pronoun used in official documents and formal speech to mean 'I / the person concerned'. It's more formal than 自己; 本身 is similar but used to emphasize a noun ('...itself'), not as a self-reference.

pronoun
(formal) Ime (used in official or written contexts)(formal) the person concernedoneself (used in documents to refer to the relevant person)

Examples

  • 本人。
    běn rén Duì cǐ shì fù zé.
    I am responsible for this matter.
  • 本人。
    Qǐng běn rén qīn zì lái bàn lǐ.
    The person concerned should come in person to handle it.
  • 本人。
    běn rén Tóng yì zhè ge tiáo jiàn.
    I agree to this condition.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

本běnthis/original
人rénperson

"本" means this/original and "人" means person; together they refer to the person concerned.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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