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In die cultuur is men nooit onbeschoft.

In die cultuur is men nooit onbeschoft.
In that culture, people are never rude.
From Lesson 164:Formal indefinite subject (men)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about In die cultuur is men nooit onbeschoft.

Why does the sentence use is men instead of zijn men if the translation says 'people are'?
The pronoun men always takes a singular verb, just like hij (he) or zij (she). Even though we often translate it as 'people', it functions exactly like the English formal pronoun 'one' ('one is never rude').
Could I use a different pronoun instead of men to say 'people' in general?
Yes. The word men is quite formal and is mostly used in writing or news broadcasts. In everyday conversation, it is much more natural to use ze (they) or je (you, in a general sense). If you use ze, remember to change the verb to plural: In die cultuur zijn ze nooit onbeschoft.
Why is the word order is men rather than men is?
This is a great reminder of the Dutch V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the phrase In die cultuur. Since the main verb must be in the second position, is comes next. This causes inversion, pushing the subject men to the other side of the verb.
I know the prefix on- often means 'un-' or 'not'. Can I just say beschoft to mean polite?
You might think so, but the word beschoft (well-mannered) is almost never used in modern Dutch! The negative form onbeschoft (rude or insolent) is very common, but if you want to say someone is polite, you should use the word beleefd instead.

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