本人

What it means

What does 本人 mean? It refers to the person themselves—the actual individual involved in a matter, not a third party, and is used to identify the true subject in formal or everyday contexts.

Main meanings

• the actual individual involved in a matter, as opposed to an intermediary or representative
• the person who personally performs an action or is affected by it
• in official contexts, the person whose identity or status is being verified or documented

How to use it

Used across registers to specify the true person in a matter; in casual speech it can refer to oneself in situations like giving consent, while in formal writing it appears in identity checks and official documents to indicate the individual directly involved.