Breakdown of In dem Krankenhaus soll man nicht rauchen.
in
in
nicht
not
rauchen
to smoke
man
one / you (impersonal)
sollen
should / ought to
das Krankenhaus
the hospital
Questions & Answers about In dem Krankenhaus soll man nicht rauchen.
Why does the verb take the form soll when the subject is man?
The impersonal pronoun man (meaning one, you, or people in general) always takes the third-person singular verb form. This is the exact same conjugation you use for er, sie, and es. Just like you would say er soll (he should), you say man soll (one should).
How is man different from der Mann?
While they look and sound similar, they are entirely different words. man with a lowercase m and one n is the pronoun meaning one, you, or people. der Mann with a capital M and two n's is the noun for an adult male (the man).
Could I say Im Krankenhaus instead of In dem Krankenhaus?
Yes, you can! im is simply the combined, shorter form of in dem. Both are perfectly correct. German speakers sometimes keep in dem separate to slightly emphasize that specific hospital, but most of the time they are used interchangeably.
Why is the word rauchen all the way at the end of the sentence?
This happens because of the modal verb soll (should). In German, when a sentence has a modal verb, it takes the standard second position and kicks the main action verb (rauchen) to the very end in its full, unchanged dictionary form (the infinitive).
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