Meaning & use
man
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
An adult male human being.
Grammar: Countable; plural is 'men'. Use 'a man' for one, 'men' for more than one.
Patterns
- a man
- the man
- men
A tall man walked into the room.
Two men were waiting outside the office.
He's a kind man who helps his neighbors.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A human being of either sex; a person.
Grammar: Countable; often used in general statements about people. Many people now prefer 'person' or 'human' to avoid suggesting only males.
Patterns
- a man
- any man
- no man
No man is an island.
Any man could see that it was wrong.
That was one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
nouncountableinformal
A husband or male partner.
Grammar: Countable; usually used with a possessive like 'my', 'her', 'your'.
Patterns
- her man
- my man
- your man
She's bringing her man to the party.
Is that your man over there?
He's been her man for ten years.
nouncountable
A male worker or soldier, especially one with a particular job or rank.
Grammar: Countable; often used in compounds like 'fireman', 'policeman'.
Patterns
- a man
- the men
- men in uniform
The men in the factory went on strike.
He's a military man.
Several men were injured in the accident.
verbtransitive
To supply a person or people to work at or control something.
Grammar: Takes an object: man the phones. Often used in the passive: the desk is manned 24 hours.
Patterns
- man something
- be manned by someone
- man the phones
Volunteers manned the information desk.
The ship is manned by a crew of twenty.
We need someone to man the phones while I'm out.
Word forms
| plural | men |
|---|
Common combinations
- a man of his word
- He's a man of his word; he always keeps a promise.
- the man in the street
- The man in the street doesn't care about these political details.
- man and wife
- The couple were pronounced man and wife.
- a man of few words
- He's a man of few words, but he listens carefully.
- man's best friend
- Many people call the dog man's best friend.
Synonyms and how they differ
- guy
- Informal, mainly American; used for a man or boy in everyday speech.
- gentleman
- Formal or polite; often used to show respect, especially for an older man.
- fellow
- Slightly old-fashioned or literary; can sound a bit formal or humorous.
- male
- Used mostly in technical or formal contexts to talk about sex, not gender roles.
Opposites
Word family
- manly adjective
- Having qualities traditionally thought to be typical of a man, such as strength or courage.
- manhood noun
- The state of being an adult man, or the qualities traditionally associated with men.
- manned adjective
- Having people on board or working, as in a manned spacecraft.
- unmanned adjective
- Not having people on board or working, as in an unmanned drone.
Commonly confused: man or men? man or human?
man vs men
This is the plural of 'man'. Remember: one man, two men; not 'mans'.
man vs human
A human is any person, male or female. 'Man' usually means an adult male, though it can sometimes mean people in general.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The plural of 'man' is 'men', so 'Two men were standing at the door' is correct. 'Mans', 'man', and 'mens' are not standard plural forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “man”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.