How to say “I am not a man or a woman”?

4 comments

1. This is not only a language thing but also cultural since in Japan you’re still one or the other on paper although you can transition (with caveats).
   I think the most straightforward way to say this is to explain what you are not and then follow that up with what you associate with.
   So you’d have something like「私は男性でも女性でもなく、中性だと思っています」(I am not of the male gender or female gender, I consider myself neutral gendered)

2. This kind of thing is much more difficult to grasp in Japanese than in English. You would have to say something like 私は男でもなければ、女でもありません. Another option that would probably work would be 私は男でも女でもありません, though I would want to run that by a native to make sure (EDIT: Just saw that this is what you yourself suggested via Google). Lastly, you could say, 私は男でもないし、女でもありません.

   Equally, if you wanted to say something was neither big nor small, you should say 大きくも小さくもない. The use of も/でも in these sentences is tricky.

3. If you refer to yourself as an adult ie. “I’m not a man/woman”:

   私は男の人じゃないです。”I’m not a man.”
   私は女の人じゃないです。”I’m not a woman.”

   (男の人/女の人(otoko no hito/onna no hito) is a polite way of addressing a “man/woman”; basically like saying “male person/female person”). Never use 男(otoko) or 女(onna) alone cuz it’s a rather rude way of addressing someone, even to yourself.

   And if you want to use the terms “boy or girl” then replace 男の人/女の人 with 男の子/女の子(otoko no ko/onna no ko).

   edit: And if you want to be more formal then replace じゃないです with じゃありません。

4. Are you talking about trans or transgender? In Japanese, it’s トランスジェンダー

   私は男でも女でもない、トランスジェンダーです。