What is “jibun” in Japanese?
“Jibun” is a pronoun in the Japanese language. Native speakers use it mainly in the three different ways: referring to the speaker, referring to the speaker-self, and referring to the listener.
First, I will explain this pronoun in detail based on its kanji expression. And then, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “jibun” more clearly and how to use it more properly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “jibun”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “jibun”.
- jibun – 自分 (じぶん) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’, ‘myself’, or ‘you’ in Japanese.
Japanese native speakers use this pronoun to say either “I”, “myself”, or “you”. So, this can work as a very flexible pronoun in the Japanese language. Unfortunately, however, this fact doesn’t mean that we can use it whenever we want. We need to be careful with the context and situation so that it can work well and sound naturally in a sentence. Before explaining each case in detail, let me explain its kanji expression based on the characters.
“Jibun” in kanji
The kanji expression of “jibun” consists of the following two characters:
- 自 : a kanji character often used to add the meaning of ‘I’, ‘my’, or ‘myself’. This kanji can also work to add the meaning of ‘-self’ to the other words used together.
- 分 : a kanji character often used to mean ‘part’, ‘portion’, or such.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “jibun” literally means ‘my part’ or such in Japanese. This literal interpretation is not completely in line with the meanings, but seems to be very close to two of the three: ‘I’ and ‘myself’. To tell the truth, in most areas in Japan, the pronoun can have only these two meanings. So, the kanji expression is still very reasonable. “Jibun” to refer to the listener, namely “you”, is a bit special and considered as a dialect in Kansai area.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “jibun” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use this pronoun through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “I” in Japanese with “jibun”
jibun wa ie de shigoto wo shi masu – 自分は家で仕事をします (じぶんはいえでしごとをします)
I will work at home.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “jibun” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- ie– 家 (いえ) : a noun meaning ‘house’ or ‘home’ in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun. Learn more about Japanese plural.
- de – で : a case particle used to say where someone does something. In the example, this is used after “ie” to say where “jibun” will work.
- shigoto – 仕事 (しごと) : a noun meaning ‘work’ in Japanese.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “shigoto” to make the object in the sentence.
- shi – し : one conjugation of the verb, “suru”, which means ‘to do’, ‘to perform’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- masu – ます : an auxiliary verb used after a verb to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese masu form. In the example, this is used after “shi” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “jibun”. In this example, it means “I” in Japanese and works as the subject in the sentence. This type of “jibun” can sound natural only in formal situations where casual pronouns like “boku” and “ore” cannot work well. It’s also worth mentioning that this is normally used by a man to refer to himself.
Example #2: how to say “myself” in Japanese
jibun de gohan wo tsukuru – 自分でご飯を作る (じぶんでごはんをつくる)
I cook by myself.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- de – で : a case particle used to say which means someone uses to do something. In the example, this is used after “jibun” to say “by myself” in Japanese.
- gohan – ご飯 (ごはん) : a noun meaning ‘meal’ or such in Japanese.
- tsukuru – 作る (つくる) : a verb meaning ‘to make’ or such in Japanese. In the example, this works as a part of the commonly-used expression, “gohan wo tsukuru”, which literally means ‘to make a meal’ in Japanese. It is often translated into English as just ‘to cook’, though.
This is another typical usage of “jibun”. This type of “jibun” often works together with the case particle, “de”, as shown in the example. The formed phrase is usually translated into English as “by myself”. Japanese native speakers quite often use this phrase in daily conversations, so it’s worth knowing.
Example #3: how to say “you” in Japanese with “jibun”
jibun wa usotsuki ka – 自分は嘘つきか (じぶんはうそつきか)
Are you a lier?
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- usotsuki – 嘘つき (うそつき) : a noun meaning ‘lier’ in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun.
- ka – か : a sentence-ending particle used to make a question. In the example, this is used at the end of the sentence to make the question. This is often used with the pitch raised.
This is a typical usage of this type of “jibun”. Again, but this “jibun” is a dialect mainly used in Kansai area in Japan. So, knowing this usage would help Japanese learners to better understand conversations with people from that area.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition, meanings, and kanji expression of “jibun” in detail. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- jibun – 自分 (じぶん) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’, ‘myself’, or ‘you’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters mean ‘my’ and ‘part’ respectively, so this pronoun literally means ‘my part’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is not completely in line with the meanings, but seems to be very close to two of the three: ‘I’ and ‘myself’. To tell the truth, in most areas in Japan, this pronoun can have only these two meanings. So, the kanji expression is still very reasonable. “Jibun” to refer to the listener, namely “you”, is a bit special and considered as a dialect in Kansai area. When we want to say “I” in formal situations, this pronoun is a good option.
- jibun de – 自分で (じぶんで) : a commonly-used phrase to mean ‘by myself’ in Japanese.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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