Breakdown of Man muss das Bad gründlich putzen.
das Bad
the bathroom
müssen
to have to, must
putzen
to clean
man
one / you (impersonal)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
gründlich
thorough
Questions & Answers about Man muss das Bad gründlich putzen.
How would I rewrite this sentence using the "sein + zu + infinitive" structure we are currently learning?
You would drop man muss, make das Bad the subject, and use ist + zu + the infinitive putzen. The sentence becomes: Das Bad ist gründlich zu putzen. This means "The bathroom is to be cleaned thoroughly" or "The bathroom must be cleaned thoroughly." It is simply a more formal, passive-like alternative to the original sentence.
Why is Man spelled with only one 'n' here?
This is the impersonal pronoun man, meaning "one", "people", or a general "you". It is spelled with one 'n' and is only capitalized here because it is the first word of the sentence. Be careful not to confuse it with the noun der Mann (the man), which always has a capital 'M' and two 'n's.
Where does the word gründlich come from?
It comes from the noun der Grund, which means "the ground" or "the foundation" (as well as "the reason"). By adding the suffix -lich, it becomes an adjective or adverb meaning "thorough" — literally doing a task right down to the foundation!
Why is putzen at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard German word order when using a modal verb like müssen. The conjugated modal verb (muss) takes the second position in the sentence, pushing the main action verb (putzen) all the way to the end in its infinitive (unchanged) form.
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