man

Impersonal Pronoun Man

Level 1

Use man to express general rules, common habits, or rumors. It refers to an unspecified person or group and always takes a third-person singular verb (like er/sie/es).

How It Works

The pronoun man is one of the most common words in German. It allows you to make statements that apply to everyone or to an undefined group of people.

1. Verb Conjugation
Even though man often implies 'people' (plural), it is grammatically singular. You must use the same verb ending as you would for er, sie, or es.
• Man isst hier gut. (One eats well here / People eat well here.)

2. General vs. Personal
In English, we often use 'you' to mean 'people in general'. In German, using du can sound too personal. man is the standard, neutral choice for general rules. Note that man refers only to humans, never to animals or objects.

3. Case and Declension
The word man itself only exists in the nominative case and has no genitive form. If you need to use 'one' as an object, German borrows forms from the word einer:
• Accusative: einen (e.g., Das macht einen müde.)
• Dative: einem (e.g., Das hilft einem.)

4. Possessive and Reflexive
To say 'one's' or 'oneself', man uses specific forms:
• Possessive: Use sein (e.g., Man liebt seine Familie. - One loves one's family.)
• Reflexive: Use sich (e.g., Man wäscht sich. - One washes oneself.)

5. Spelling Note
Do not confuse man (pronoun) with der Mann (the man/husband). man is always lowercase (unless at the start of a sentence) and has only one 'n'.

Examples (5)

  1. Wie schreibt man dieses Wort?

    How do you spell this word?

    Word by Word: How writes one this word?

    Here, 'man' refers to people in general. Notice the verb 'schreibt' is in the third-person singular.

  2. In Deutschland trinkt man viel Kaffee.

    In Germany, people drink a lot of coffee.

    Word by Word: In Germany drinks one much coffee.

    This describes a general cultural habit using 'man'.

  3. Hier darf man nicht rauchen.

    One is not allowed to smoke here.

    Word by Word: Here may one not smoke.

    Using 'man' with the modal verb dürfen is the standard way to express rules and prohibitions.

  4. Man sagt, dass es morgen regnet.

    They say that it will rain tomorrow.

    Word by Word: One says, that it tomorrow rains.

    This is a common way to report rumors or general information without specifying who said it.

  5. Wenn man krank ist, sollte man zum Arzt gehen.

    If one is sick, one should go to the doctor.

    Word by Word: If one sick is, should one to the doctor go.

    This shows 'man' used in a conditional sentence to give general advice.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a plural verb form with 'man'.

    Man essen hier oft Pizza.
    Man isst hier oft Pizza.

    Even though 'man' refers to many people, it is grammatically singular and requires the third-person singular verb form.

  • Confusing 'man' with the noun 'Mann'.

    Was sagt der man?
    Was sagt der Mann? / Was sagt man?

    'man' (one 'n') is a pronoun meaning 'one'. 'Mann' (two 'n's, capitalized) is a noun meaning 'man'. You cannot put an article like 'der' before the pronoun 'man'.

  • Using 'man' as an object in the accusative or dative case.

    Lärm stört man.
    Lärm stört einen.

    'man' only exists as a subject (nominative). For objects, you must use 'einen' (accusative) or 'einem' (dative).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

manLevel 1Impersonal Pronoun Man

Learn This First

To use the impersonal pronoun 'man', you need to understand how personal pronouns function as subjects and how to conjugate verbs in the third-person singular (the 'er/sie/es' form). Basic sentence structure is also required to place 'man' correctly in a sentence.

Words in This Pattern