Thread: I'm my own person - я сам себе человек?

Can I say that and it would mean the same thing as it does in English?

я сам себе человек - we wouldn't say that. If I understand what you are trying to say, we seem to have several phrases that can be chosen in different situations. For example:


я сам себе хозяин - meanings: I am my own master, I am my own boss, I myself control my work and actions.
я сам себе начальник - in work situations can mean 'I am my own boss'.

There might be other similar phrases but I can't take any more right off my head, the idea is 'I control my actions myself'.

I know you are interested in Russian slang, so you can use "сам себе велосипед". It's a funny phrase which shows that a person has some freedom to do anything he wants.

"I am my own person" can mean "I'm my own boss," but you could also understand it to mean "I am a distinctive person; I have my own special qualities; "I am not a drone in the Borg hive-mind," etc.

Would it sound strange in Russian to say У меня есть свои личные качества ("I have my own personal qualities") or У меня есть свои свойственности ("I have my own characteristics") or У меня есть своя изюминка ("I have my own je ne sais quoi")?

And I also thought that изюминка (literally, "a small raisin," but figuratively, very close to je ne sais quoi) might fit what Valda was looking for.

Also, I was trying to think of examples for Valda where the reflexive свой does NOT relate back to the nominative subject, as it normally must do according to strict grammar rules. Cf. Он имеет свою машину -- in which the reflexive pronoun свой DOES relate to the nominative subject он. But this "correct" sentence means the same as the colloquial У него есть своя машина, "he has his own car" -- in which своя (nominative and feminine) grammatically agrees with машина, but "logically reflects back" to the "him" in у него.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

I know you are interested in Russian slang, so you can use "сам себе велосипед". It's a funny phrase which shows that a person has some freedom to do anything he wants.

добавлю в копилку сленга
ССЗБ aka сам себе злобный буратино - http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/Викисл...уратино

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Would it sound strange in Russian to say У меня есть свои личные качества ("I have my own personal qualities")

Although grammatically it is correct, this phrase sounds "colorless" and does not convey the idea. "Личные качества" is quite an official expression, not typical for colloquial speech. Moreover, it does not say anything new: It is obvious that every person has his/her own personal qualities.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

У меня есть свои свойственности ("I have my own characteristics")

Sorry, there is no such a word in Russian as "свойственности". There is the word "свойства" (sg: свойство), but I think it is applicable to inanimate objects only: you can say "свойства воды", "свойства целых чисел" etc.

"У меня (есть) свои особенности" is more or less OK, but still far from perfect.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

У меня есть своя изюминка ("I have my own je ne sais quoi")? And I also thought that изюминка (literally, "a small raisin," but figuratively, very close to je ne sais quoi) might fit what Valda was looking for.

Not bad! But this mostly works for women. I am not 100% sure, but I personally feel "изюминка" is a feminine characteristic. But it would work for Valda, sure!

If to make this sound more neutral, I would rephrase it (choose whatever you like better depending on context):
Я особенный человек.
Я необычный человек.
Я отличаюсь от большинства.
У меня свои взгляды на жизнь.
У меня есть своё собственное мнение.
Я не люблю следовать за толпой.
Я не хочу быть частью "серой массы".
etc.

WOW thank you all very much for the detailed replies and Bob for the wonderful summary

У меня есть своя изюминка - that's great

Я особенный человек. I like it for the basic one, that's mostly what I was going for


And сам себе велосипед is also cool This one I wouldn't forget for sure.

Я сам по себе - I am not affiliated to or allied with anything or anyone. I represent myself.

1.

ﾟ ? ? ?

This phrase is so funny because it is so unusual!


2.
самодостаточный — Викисловарь

3. "волевой и цельный человек"
Осенний марафон / The Autumn Marathon - YouTube
at 0:58:40..1:00:04

Я сам по себе = I'm all by myself

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

Я сам по себе = I'm all by myself

I am on my own.