manquer à

Missing Someone with Manquer a

Level 3

In French, 'manquer à' works in reverse compared to English. Instead of 'I miss you,' you say 'You are missing to me' (Tu me manques).

How It Works

The construction manquer à [quelqu'un] is used to express emotional longing. Unlike the English verb 'to miss,' the roles are flipped:

  • Subject: The person/thing that is gone.
  • Verb: Manquer (agrees with the subject).
  • Indirect Object: The person who feels the loss.

If you use a name, use the preposition à: Léo manque à sa mère (Leo's mother misses him).
If you use a pronoun, use an indirect object pronoun before the verb: Tu me manques (I miss you).

Important Distinctions:
1. Manquer [Direct Object]: To miss a target or transport (e.g., J'ai manqué le train). This follows English logic.
2. Manquer de [Noun]: To lack something (e.g., Je manque de temps).
3. Manquer de [Infinitive]: To almost do something (e.g., Il a manqué de tomber).

Examples (5)

  1. Tu me manques.

    I miss you.

    Word by Word: You to-me are-missing.

    The most common way to say 'I miss you.' 'Tu' is the subject because you are the one who is absent.

  2. Mes parents me manquent.

    I miss my parents.

    Word by Word: My parents to-me are-missing.

    Notice the verb 'manquent' is plural to agree with the subject 'mes parents'.

  3. La France manque à mon frère.

    My brother misses France.

    Word by Word: France is-missing to my brother.

    When using a noun (mon frère), we use the preposition 'à'.

  4. Est-ce que je vous ai manqué ?

    Did you miss me?

    Word by Word: Is it that I to-you have missed?

    In the past tense, the auxiliary is 'avoir'. The subject is 'je' because I was the one absent.

  5. Paris nous manque beaucoup.

    We miss Paris a lot.

    Word by Word: Paris to-us is-missing a-lot.

    This construction works for places and things as well as people.

Common Mistakes

  • Saying 'Je te manque' to mean 'I miss you'.

    Different MeaningJe te manque.
    Tu me manques.

    'Je te manque' is correct French, but it means 'You miss me', because 'je' is the person who is missed. To say 'I miss you', use 'Tu me manques'.

  • Conjugating the verb to match the person who feels the emotion.

    Different MeaningJe manque mes amis.
    Mes amis me manquent.

    'Je manque mes amis' is a possible sentence, but it means 'I fail to meet my friends'. To say you miss them, 'manquer' agrees with the people who are absent: 'Mes amis me manquent.'

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

manquer àLevel 3Missing Someone with Manquer a

Learn This First

To learn the 'manquer à' construction, you need to understand that the French logic is reversed compared to English: the person who is 'missing' is the subject, and the person who 'feels' the lack is the indirect object. Therefore, you must be comfortable with regular -er verb conjugation and the use and placement of indirect object pronouns.

Words in This Pattern

manquer