Indefinite pronoun 'man' (one/you in general)

What it is. man means one / you / people in general and makes a general, impersonal statement when the specific subject does not matter - like English you in you can't park here or people say.

How it is used. man is always the subject and always takes the third-person singular verb, just like er/sie/es: man kann, man muss, man sagt. It is written with a small m in the middle of a sentence and must not be confused with the noun der Mann (the man).

Examples.

• Hier darf man nicht rauchen. - You may not smoke here.
• Man sagt, dass es schwer ist. - People say that it is hard.
• In Deutschland isst man viel Brot. - In Germany people eat a lot of bread.

Common mistakes. Always use the singular verb: man kann, never man können. And spell it man (one), not Mann (the noun for a male person).

'man' (one / you / people in general) makes a general, impersonal statement.

General/impersonal subject; always third-person singular (man sagt, man kann).

'man' macht eine allgemeine, unpersönliche Aussage.