How to say "a man needs..." referring to what people in general need?

Question

In my current translation project I have a line as follows:

Sorry, sirrah, but a man needs something to buy food with.

This is said by a beggar and thief who is apologizing for robbing the hero, expressing the idea that people in general, himself included, need money to eat.

I am assuming that translating it literally as "ein Mann braucht ..." does not convey the same meaning. I am not sure about "der Mensch braucht ..." either as this is the expression used in formal writing and the speaker is hardly an educated character.

Is there a better way to say this in colloquial German?

Answer 1

Sorry, sirrah, but a man needs something to buy food with.

würde ich mit

Tut mir leid, Mann, aber man braucht Geld, um Nahrung zu kaufen.

"Something" ist m.E. unpassend und würde niemand sagen, was sonst, als Geld, kommt in Betracht? "Nahrung" ist nicht optimal, "Lebensmittel" aber eher noch hölzerner. "Brot" als veraltete hätte vor ein paar Jahrzehnten funktioniert, "um sich Essen" oder "ein Frühstück zu kaufen" wäre eine Alternative, oder, das Original weiter verlassend, etwas wie "die Läden verschenken ihre Waren nicht" oder "der Supermarkt gibt mir keinen Kredit".

Answer 2

Sorry, sirrah, but a man needs something to buy food with.

the speaker is hardly an educated character.

I would put that as

'tschuldigung der Herr, aber unsereins kriegt's Essen auch nicht geschenkt.

Instead of unsereins kriegt das you could also use ich krieg das but I think unsereins fits better because uneducated people often overcompensate that with overblown keywords that don't match the other parts of their speech.

Answer 3

If someone enters your shop, and you see whether they are a man or a woman, then you can refer to that particular person, and not to a general person. In the general case you can say

Man braucht Geld zum Einkaufen.

With a single "n" it means the same as "somebody" or "someone". If you don't like it, you can say "everyone".

Jeder braucht Geld zum Einkaufen.

Now this is for the case when you are talking about any arbitrary person. If there is a particular person and you don't know if they are a man or woman, you might say

Jemand ist gerade aus dem Laden gelaufen ohne zu bezahlen.

Answer 4

Ich schlage vor: Tut mit leid, du, aber der Mensch muss was zu essen kaufen koennen!