(じしん)

じしん
noun, pronoun
oneself; himself; herself
persongrammatical
1. oneself (emphatic, following a noun or pronoun)
Attaches directly to a person word or pronoun to stress that this very person, and no one else, is meant: (わたし)自身(じしん) (I myself), 社長(しゃちょう)自身(じしん) (the president himself). It does not stand alone as a subject.
(わたし)自身(じしん)(おどろ)いた
I myself was surprised too.
それ(かれ)自身(じしん)()めたことだ。
That is something he decided himself.
The manager explained at a press conference that the player himself had decided to retire.

自身(じしん) follows the word it emphasizes with no particle in between. It is used with people; for a thing or an abstract noun, Japanese uses 自体(じたい) instead (制度(せいど)自体(じたい), the system itself).

Common patterns

  • (わたし)自身(じしん): I myself
  • 自分(じぶん)自身(じしん): one's own self (a very common doubled form)
  • 自身(じしん)経験(けいけん): one's own experience
  • 自身(じしん)(たし)かめる: to check for oneself

Similar words

  • 自分(じぶん): oneself — can stand alone as a subject or object; 自身(じしん) cannot
  • (みずか): personally, of one's own accord — an adverb stressing that one acted without being told

Related Words