der Mann
man
Der Mann means both "man" and "husband", and which one it is depends on the word in front of it. With an article it is a man: der Mann am Fenster (the man at the window). With a possessive it is a husband: mein Mann means "my husband", never "my man". The noun is masculine and its plural is die Männer, built with an umlaut plus -er.
The pattern matches Frau exactly, so the two words are best learned together. If you want to be explicit about marriage, der Ehemann means husband specifically.
There is a trap here that catches almost every learner. German also has the word man, spelled with one n and written in lowercase. It is an impersonal pronoun meaning "one" or "people in general": man sagt, dass... (people say that...) and hier darf man nicht rauchen (you are not allowed to smoke here). The two words sound identical in speech, so only the spelling and the capital letter tell them apart in writing.
Useful compounds include der Geschäftsmann (businessman), der Feuerwehrmann (firefighter), and der Schneemann (snowman). The adjective männlich means male or masculine, and it is the word you will see on grammar tables marking masculine nouns.
Pronunciation: Mann is one syllable, [man], with a short a because of the double n. The plural Männer is [ˈmɛnɐ], roughly "MEN-uh", and the vowel shift makes it sound close to the English word "men", which is a helpful coincidence.
Article / Gender
English
man
Singular
der Mann
Plural
die Männer
der Mann appears in the following vocabulary collections:
Der Mann ist müde.
The man is tired.
Simple nominative subject with predicative adjective.
Ich sehe den Mann.
I see the man.
Use accusative after the verb 'sehen'.
Der Mann wohnt in Berlin.
The man lives in Berlin.
Place information comes later in the sentence.
- What does Mann mean in German?
- Mann means "man" and also "husband". Der Mann is a man in general, while mein Mann means "my husband".
- What is the plural of Mann?
- The plural is die Männer, formed with an umlaut plus an -er ending. It sounds close to the English word "men", which makes it easy to remember.
- What is the difference between Mann and man?
- Mann with two n is a noun meaning man or husband. man with one n is an impersonal pronoun meaning "one" or "people in general", as in man weiß nie (you never know). They sound the same but are completely different words.
- How do you say husband in German?
- Say mein Mann for "my husband" in normal conversation. Der Ehemann is the explicit term and is useful when the context does not make the relationship clear.
- Is Mann masculine, feminine, or neuter?
- Mann is masculine and takes der. It becomes den Mann in the accusative and dem Mann in the dative, as in ich gebe dem Mann das Buch (I give the man the book).