Grammar is one of those things that native speakers can acquire their language naturally with an intuitive understanding. While shifting to a new grammar is hard, no matter its language- English is not an exception.
As a non-native, sometimes you might find yourself confused between the words man and men. However, let me tell you the difference is not that complex.
Man is used for a singular person, and men refer to a group of masculine people and the plural form of the word “man“.
We are going over the difference between the word man and men. These two words are similar, but not the same.
Difference between “Men” and “Man”
Man is used as an adult male human being. And the word men is used for the plural form of man or male human beings.
The difference between men and men is simple and apparent.
But the rules of English grammar are quite tricky, and sometimes commonly used words have more than one meaning.
In simple terms, man and men primarily have the same meaning. The difference is man is from a single male human, and men are the plural of man. However, it has other meanings as well.
When do you use “Men” and “Man” in a sentence?
Let’s explore some examples highlighting the use of men and man in the sentence.
| Man | Men | |
| In grammar | It is: Noun Interjection Verb | Plural of Man |
| Use for | Single male | Plural male |
Use of Man
When the word man comes as a noun, it refers to adult male humans.
“That man is my brother-in-law, who is wearing a red tie.”
Sometimes, man is also used for a human being in general or a person (of either sex). Look at the sentence below as an example:
“Greed has overtaken the humanity and sympathy of man.”
When the word man comes as a verb, it means operating or working at.
“There was no one manning the stations.”
The verb form here is manned (carrying, staffed, or performed by one or more people).
Note: If more than one person means we don’t use the word’s meaning.
Here are some more examples, so you grasp the idea better.
- The whole fleet was manned by about 4000 men.
- The campground was manned on a volunteer basis.
Now let’s have a look at Men and its use in a sentence:
Use of Men
The plural form of man is men.
Have a look at the example:
I saw two men running down the street.
These brave men and women fought for us.
I saw men playing football outside.
How to pronounce “Man” and “Men”?
For the man, you should use the word “an” to pronounce. The word an and man rhyme.
They are almost the same. When you have men, then use the letter “n” to pronounce men.
They are basically the same sound. Both have different vowel sounds. Man has “AA,” and men have “EH.” but there is more to both words than just comparing these vowel sounds.
The AA vowel requires a nasal consonant. Like N, there’s a little change in sound when you put it through the nasal.
watch the video below for further explanation:
What’s the difference between men and boys?
A guy and a man both imply grown-up human male beings. The difference lies in their psyche and how they treat life.
Men and boys are both used for groups of adult male humans. The difference lies in their maturity level. Buys are used for younger male groups such as teenagers who go to school. Or human male adults who have yet to enter their adult life.
Men refer to a mature group of male humans who have crossed the age of a teen and learn lots from their adult lives.
From a grammar point of view, the difference is about a little gap of age and maturity level. You can call young and teenage males.
Ken: Hey young boys, why have you not gone to school today?
Young boy: Ken and his friends are good men.
The difference between a man and a guy is also based on the difference of opinion among people based on their specific perceptions about men.
In regular English, a guy and a man are not very different, but if you ask people individually, each one has its own definition for men and guy.
According to some people, guys are those kids who have become adult males by age but haven’t taken the life seriously and responsibility of the world upon their shoulders. They live life in a carefree manner without understanding that it is high time they did something responsible and settled down.
What’s the difference between “Male” and “Man”?
Male refers to the masculine gender, opposite to female. Male is used for humans and other living things like a fish, a bull, a male bird, whereas Man is used only for a human male.
What’s the difference between “Women” and “Woman”?
The woman is the singular form, and the women is the plural form. Sometimes the singular “woman” probably gets mixed up with the plural “women” that happened because both have the same O letter but you have to sport the difference in the “man’ and “men” coming in the word woman and women respectively.
Although both are spelled with an O in the first syllable, only the O pronunciation really differentiates them.
You have to pronounce woman as woo-man and women as whim-en.
Here are examples
A woman is singing a song.
That salon is only for women.
Hopefully, you get the idea. Just remember that the word female” is treated no differently than “man” (one person) and “men” (more than one person).
Mens vs. Men’s: Which one is gramatically correct?
You must have noticed that the “mens” word gets used a lot someplace. Here are some random lines you must have heard:
During shopping: Where’s the shop where I can find men’s clothes?
In sports: “You must have heard about men’s team.”
The question is, is it right to say mens and when you are allowed to use it?
The answer is mens are often used as an alternative for men’s possessive form.
But a possessive term should have an apostrophe before the “s.” However, this just caught on and is now considered acceptable. Another common noun is menswear which is often used instead of men’s wear.
In general English, the most productive and common usage is turning an entire NP (or DP) into a determiner or determinative.
However, the use of mens has become common in some areas like Ireland. However, I wouldn’t recommend ever writing “mens” because grammatically, it is not correct.
Conclusion
The English grammar seems daunting and overwhelming to the non-native speaker, even native speakers sometimes. However, the rules are not complicated. Many languages have their own rules, and any outsider has difficulty learning them, especially the basics.
The basic difference between “man” and “men” in grammar is that one is used to refer to a singular person (man) and the other is plural (men).
English grammar rules are all about basics; once you grasp them, you can easily understand and learn the whole grammar.
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand and differentiate the man and men, along with examples.
Other Articles
- Spear and a Lance-What is the difference?
- 21 years old VS. 21-year-old- (All you need to know)
- Difference between a twig and a branch on a tree?
- Can “How are you holding up?” be used in the same way as “How are you doing?” Or is there any difference in its connotation?
- What’s the difference between the CPU FAN” socket, CPU OPT socket, and the SYS FAN socket on motherboard?
Click here to get a preview of the web story version of this article.