Breakdown of Hier darf man nicht baden.
hier
here
nicht
not
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
man
one / you (impersonal)
baden
to take a bath; to swim (in a lake or the sea)
Questions & Answers about Hier darf man nicht baden.
The translation says "You", but shouldn't that be du or Sie instead of man?
In German, man is an impersonal pronoun like "one" in English. It is used to talk about people in general. When a sign or rule applies to everyone, German uses man, which usually translates to a general "you" or "people" in natural English.
Why isn't the subject man at the beginning, like in "Hier man darf..."?
German has a strict rule where the conjugated verb must be the second idea in a normal statement. Since this sentence starts with the location Hier (Here), the verb darf must come immediately after it. The subject man then gets pushed to the third position.
Why is baden at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses a modal verb, which is a helper verb like can, must, or may. Here it is darf (is allowed to). In German, the modal verb takes the second position in the sentence, and the main action verb (baden) gets pushed all the way to the end in its dictionary form (the infinitive).
The English translation says "swim", but doesn't baden mean "bathe"?
Yes, baden translates literally to "bathe". However, Germans frequently use baden to mean swimming or splashing around for fun in a lake, sea, or pool. If you are swimming laps for sport, you use schwimmen, but a "no swimming" sign at a beach or lake will almost always use baden.
Why is the verb darf instead of something ending in -t, like "darft"?
darf comes from the modal verb dürfen (to be allowed to). Modal verbs have irregular forms for the singular pronouns (I, he, she, it). They often change their vowel and do not take the typical verb endings. Because man acts like a third-person singular subject, we use the irregular form darf.
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