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Pronouns
We all use them, so what are they? Pronouns are the words that we use in place of the nouns we're really talking about.
The students got good marks in the test because the students had a good teacher.
This sentence looks and sounds odd. There is no need to repeat "the students": instead, we replace these words with "they". Everyone should understand that "they" refers to the students.
The students got good marks in the test because they had a good teacher.
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Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are special pronouns where we leave the noun unspecified. Some examples in English are:
everyone, noone, someone, anyone, one, everything, nothing, something, anything.
In German these are:
alle, keiner, jemand, irgend jemand, man, alles, nichts, etwas, irgend etwas.
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Man
In everyday life it is uncommon for most English-speaking people to say something like:
"Where does one buy a ticket?" or "One feels embarrassed."
Normally, we would use "you" in the sense of "one".
German, however, uses this correct form as a matter of course:
"Wo in dieser Stadt kauft man Zanhpasta?"
The answer could be:
"Man geht in die Apotheke."
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Declension of "Man"
As in the English equivalent, man is singular. It is declined as a masculine pronoun.
ACCUSATIVE: Er schaut einen immer in die Auge.
GENITIVE: Man seht, sein Leben ist kurz.
DATIVE: Das gibt einem einen Riesenschock.
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How "Man" is Used
man can be used to talk about general human experiences, or about those you have had yourself but which you feel would be the same for anyone in similar circumstances.
Examples:
- Wenn man sich in Paris findet, sollte man unbedingt den Eiffelturm hochklettern.
- Man kommt so weit, dann shaut einer einen an und man weiβ, daβ es vorbei ist.
- Auf dem Meer fühlt man sich wohl.
- Was kann man dazu sagen?
It can also be used to include yourself as part of a group or to leave the subject ambiguous. In the sentence
Man freut sich darauf
we do not know who is looking forward to it. The speaker could mean him/herself alone or as part of a group, or the group without the speaker. This is a very useful "trick" to use if you don't want to commit yourself to something!