"Kann man das essen?"

Translation: Can you eat that?

[Darksonion]

Why does man translate to you? Shouldnt it just be "Can one eat this?" sounds dramatic but right

[deactivated user]

In German, "man" does not sound as pompous as "one" does in English. That's why "you" is often the best translation, but either is fine.

[Joffen1]

Just FYI, I'm native British English, and I use "one" in this way.

[RolloRavendel]

One also does that ;)

[Jakub678955]

What about this translation: "Can we eat that?"

Since the german asks if a man can eat that food then "we" can stand either for us (here) or us as all mankind. This way the meaning is kept almost word for word. The language is also common not so pompous.

[NikolaSchildberg]

(Not a native)

It seems to me (from what I've learnt so far) that in many contexts your sentence could be similar to the intended one.

But notice the difference between (german) "man" and (german) "Mann".

The first one can mean the english "one" or "you". The second one is german for "man".

der Mann = the man
man = one, you

Hope that helps!

[person243]

This is the so called generic "you". You use/One uses it for an unspecific person. And that is the same usage and meaning as "man". You/One could also use "one" here. But "you" is not wrong.

I hope I could be of help.

[tkiafar]

This translation is a bit misleading. The sentence is best translated to "is that edible?" While the current translation could also be interpreted as a request.

[Aeturnalis]

I tried "can that be eaten" and it was rejected

[TaraFife24663]

I tried "can someone eat that", which I thought captured the right meaning.

[o0oKrishnao0o]

"Can one eat that"

[Aeturnalis]

If I remember correctly from high school German, this was how Germans make passive statements... for example, "he has been seen" or "it will soon be discarded" would be "man hat ihn gesehen" or "man wird es bald verwerfen."

I submitted the answer "can that be eaten," which was rejected. I flagged it as should have been accepted; if that is inaccurate, could any native speakers enlighten me? Vielen Dank meine Freunde

[PopSixSquish]

Why not 'can people eat that'? I was taught 'man' meant people in general, not anyone specific.

[lauryswagner]

I know it might not be acceptable because of passive voice, but would 'can that be eaten?' work?

[Dave_Chapman]

Isn't 'man' the third personal impersonal pronoun? In English this would be 'one', although in the UK colloquially it's rare to hear it in conversation.

[9gW4]

Is it possible to translate
"Is that eatable?"

[Margo233621]

The word for "eatable" is actually "edible". In my opinion, "Is that edible? " would be a good translation.

[THANOSRAL]

Can somebody {or someone] eat that. Seems better to me.