Learn Dutch: Zodra men hem benoemt, moet hij de eed afleggen. - As soon as one appoints him, he must take the oath.

In Dutch, taking an oath is a fixed formal expression: een eed afleggen. You cannot translate "to take" literally with nemen in this context. Afleggen is frequently used in official or legal phrasing for making formal declarations, such as een verklaring afleggen (to make a statement).

Why is the formal pronoun men used here instead of je or ze?

Men is a formal, impersonal pronoun meaning "one" or "people in general." Because appointing someone and taking an oath are official, bureaucratic procedures, men perfectly matches the elevated, formal register of this sentence. Using je (you) or ze (they) would sound too casual here.

Why does the second part of the sentence say moet hij instead of hij moet?

This is a classic case of inversion triggered by putting a subordinate clause first. The entire clause Zodra men hem benoemt occupies the first grammatical position in the sentence. To satisfy the Dutch "verb-second" (V2) rule, the conjugated verb of the main clause (moet) must immediately follow the comma, which pushes the subject (hij) behind the verb.

Does zodra trigger any special word order in the first clause?