"Ich bin ein Mann."

Translation: I am a man.

[xcruzr5]

I want to know what is the best pronunciation for "Ich". Some people say something like "Ij" or "Ish" and others say "Ik". Thank you

[christian]

• "When the letters 'ch' follow the German 'back' vowels 'a', 'o', 'u' and 'au', the sound produced corresponds to the 'ch' heard when Scots talk about 'Loch Ness'. It is articulated therefore with the back of the tongue close to or touching the soft palate. If this is not a sound with which you are familiar:

make a 'h' sound, remembering to let the air flow freely. While you are making this sound, reduce the gap between the roof of your mouth and the back of your tongue until friction becomes audible.

• When the letters 'ch' follow the front vowels 'e', 'ä', 'i', 'ei', 'eu', 'äu' and 'ö', or a consonant, a different sound is required that is articulated much further forward in the mouth. It resembles the 'h' sound made at the start of English words such as 'huge', 'humour' or 'humane', but the German sound needs to be articulated more vigorously and with the sound drawn out."

http://joycep.myweb.port.ac.uk/pronounce/consonch.html

I highly recommend reading the entire guide and listening to the examples. There are many other letters that are pronounced differently than in English or other languages.

[Ronnie.Bay]

so ein means both one and a ?

[christian]

Yes.

[houallet]

Isn't Mann masculine (der Mann)? Shouldn't it be einen Mann?

[JuergMueller]

ex. Ich bin ein Mann. but Ich sehe einen Mann. but Ich helfe einem Mann. Please check on the explanations for Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ. This doesn't exist in other languages, that makes German a bit special.

[Skapata]

What doesn't exist in other languages? Cases do exist in many languages, e. g. slavic languages.

[shiva211091]

I know that the sentence means ...." I am a man" in english ..... but Mann also means husband also in the given in translation..... "I am a husband" is a wrong answer according to this...... can anyone plz elaborate?

[christian]

It would have to be preceded by a possessive determiner (e.g. "mein Mann") to mean "husband".

[AnonymousSplat]

so Mann can either mean man or you?
(at school we were taught that du and mann mean you as in mann kann=you can)

[Julika]

"Der Mann" is "the man" in English. But "man" (one "n" and not capitalized) means "one/you/they" in English. Like "on" in French.
For instance, "Das macht man nicht" - You do not do that. But "Der Mann macht das nicht." - The man does not do it."