How to Say “Personal” and “Individual” in Chinese? Geren 个人 in Mandarin
个人 Gè rén stands for an individual, but it also represents the word ‘personally’ or ‘personal’ depending on the formation of the English sentence.
When 个人 Gè rén comes after a Subject Pronoun (I, you, he, she, we etc.), it stresses on the personal opinion of an individual and showcases individualism.
Out of the sentences below, you can omit the word 个人 Gè rén from the first five sentences since they are only adjectives and use as a supplementary.
For the last sentence, you cannot drop the word 个人 Gè rén because it has become a noun. The sentence structure will not be complete without it.
Personally, I feel that what you have done is not correct.
我个人认为你这么做是不对的。
Wǒ gè rén rèn wéi nǐ zhè me zuò shì bù duì de.
This is your personal point of view. We do not have to agree on this point.
这是你个人的看法，我们不一定要赞成这点。
Zhè shì nǐ gè rén de kàn fǎ, wǒ men bù yī dìng yào zàn chéng zhè diǎn.
Our individual concerns are all different.
我们个人关心的事情都不一样。
Wǒ men gè rén guān xīn de shì qíng dōu bù yī yàng.
She will not go out at night individually (alone).
她个人是不会晚上出门的。
Tā gè rén shì bù huì wǎn shàng chū mén de.
Can you think from our perspective?
你们可以从我们个人的角度想一下吗？
Nǐ men kě yǐ cóng wǒ men gè rén de jiǎo dù xiǎng yī xià ma?
We will consult the valuable advice of individuals.
我们会参考个人的宝贵意见。
Wǒ men huì cān kǎo gè rén de bǎo guì yì jiàn.
Noun Phrase – Ge Ren
When 个人 Gè rén becomes a descriptive word necessary to describe a noun as a phrase, you cannot omit the word too. Examples are individualism 个人主义, personal data 个人资料 and personal privacy 个人隐私.
He is very individualistic and changing his mindset is not that easy.
他个人主义很强，要改变他的想法没那么容易。
Tā gè rén zhǔ yì hěn qiáng, yào gǎi biàn tā de xiǎng fǎ méi nà me róng yì.
Fill in your personal particulars on this form.
在这张表格上填写你个人资料。
Zài zhè zhāng biǎo gé shàng tián xiě nǐ gè rén zī liào.
Wages are personal privacy.
工资是个人隐私。
Gōng zī shì gè rén yǐn sī.
*On a side note, the word 每个人 also means ‘everybody’.
Also read similar article on How to Say “Personally” in Chinese with 亲自 Qinzi, 亲手 Qinshou & 亲身 Qinshen? The terms mean to handle a matter personally or first-hand experience on a situation.
