man

pronoun
one, people
A1

man = impersonal indefinite pronoun meaning 'one', 'people' or generic 'you'. Used for general statements (Man sagt, man muss). Only nominative is common; other cases are rare. Not reflexive; no gender. Use when expressing general truths; often replaced colloquially by du or wir.

Examples

Wenn man übt, wird man besser.
If one practices, one gets better.
Man sagt, dass das Wetter morgen besser wird.
People say the weather will be better tomorrow.
Wenn man früher losgefahren wäre, wäre die Reise ruhiger gewesen.
If one had left earlier, the trip would have been calmer.

Details

Typeindefinite
Declension Forms
nominative:mangenitive:— (rare)dative:— (rare)accusative:— (rare)

Mnemonics

👁️picture a silhouette representing any person
👂sounds like English 'man' but actually means 'one' (people in general)
⚧️not applicable

Notes

Indefinite pronoun used to express general statements. Not to be confused with 'Mann' (man/person male).

Category

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