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Lesson 50.1B2

Politics & Society

राजनीति और समाज

Political and social commentary in German leans heavily on the passive voice and the impersonal pronoun man, both describing institutional action without stating who's actually behind it.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

The passive is the default register for institutional decisions

German

Das Gesetz wurde verabschiedet. (The law was passed.)

Hindi

कानून पारित किया गया।

Hindi can also state institutional action in the passive ('कानून पारित किया गया'), but German pushes this habit further and more consistently: news reports, government statements, and everyday political commentary use the passive as the neutral default whenever the agent (which committee, which minister, which vote) is either clear from context or less important than the outcome. Expect passive constructions constantly in this register.

man as the 'people in general' subject

German

Man erwartet eine Reform. (People expect a reform. / A reform is expected.)

Hindi

लोग एक सुधार की उम्मीद करते हैं।

man is a genuine subject pronoun (conjugated like er/sie/es: man erwartet, man hofft, man diskutiert) when the agent is 'people in general' or an unspecified 'they'. Hindi's "लोग" handles this idea well — think of man as a dedicated pronoun for exactly this vague-agent meaning, rather than translating it word for word from any single Hindi/English option.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

GermanPronunciationHindiEnglish
die Regierungdee reh-GEE-roongसरकारsarkārthe government
das Gesetzdahs geh-ZETSकानूनkānūnthe law
die Wahldee vahlचुनावcunāvthe election
die Parteidee par-TYराजनीतिक पार्टीrājnītik pārṭīthe political party
abstimmenAHP-shtim-enवोट देनाvoṭ denāto vote
die Gesellschaftdee geh-ZEL-shahftसमाजsamājsociety
der Bürger / die Bürgerindair BEWR-ger / dee BEWR-ger-inनागरिकnāgrikthe citizen
die Demokratiedee day-moh-krah-TEEलोकतंत्रloktantrademocracy
die Verfassungdee fair-FAH-soongसंविधानsanvidhānthe constitution
die Menschenrechtedee MEN-shen-rekh-tehमानवाधिकारmānvādhikārhuman rights
die Oppositiondee oh-poh-zi-tsee-OHNविपक्षvipakṣthe opposition
der Kanzler / die Kanzlerindair KAHNTS-ler / dee KAHNTS-ler-inचांसलरcānslarthe chancellor
die Öffentlichkeitdee UR-fent-likh-kytजनताjantāthe public
die Debattedee day-BAH-tehबहसbahasthe debate
das Parlamentdahs par-lah-MENTसंसदsansadthe parliament