Manquer (à) = To miss someone/something emotionally

In: Level A2, Idioms, Idiomatic Usage, and Structures, Pronom d'objet indirect
Questions: 28

The verb manquer is often very troublesome for English speakers of French because its structure is reversed when it applies to emotions compared to events.

Look at these sentences with the verb manquer in an emotional sense:

Mon ancienne école me manque .
I miss my old school.

Jean lui manque.
She/he misses Jean

Il manque à ma soeur.
My sister misses him.

Je manque à Thomas.
Thomas misses me.

When using manquer in the emotional sense, you must reverse the structure so it is the person or thing that is lacking to you:

Tu manques à Lise.
Lise misses you.

-> It's not Lise misses you. anymore, but literally You are lacking to Lise.

Elle me manque.
I miss her.

-> It's not I miss her, but literally She is lacking to me.

Je lui manque.
He misses me.

-> It's not He misses me, but literally I am lacking to him.

Now the 'missed' person or thing become the one doing the action of 'lacking'.

Introducing the person who is missing someone, who is "lacking" someone

You either use manquer à + [name]:

Nous manquons à Patricia.
Patricia misses us.

Léo manque à ma sœur.
My sister misses Léo.

or indirect pronouns me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur before manquer :

Hélène leur manque.
They miss Hélène.

Mon chien me manque.
I miss my dog.

 

It is different when talking about missing an event or a train, or lacking something in a pragmatic way.
See Manquer (de) + thing = To miss / lack something


As for using indirect pronouns, see Me, te, nous, vous = Me, you, us, you (direct and indirect object pronouns) and Replacing people with lui, leur = him, her, them (indirect object pronouns)

 

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Pronom d'objet indirect

Examples and resources

Ma mère me manque.
I miss my mum

Je manque à Thomas.
Thomas misses me.

Je lui manque.
He misses me.

Il manque à ma soeur.
My sister misses him.

Mon chien me manque.
I miss my dog.

Elle me manque.
I miss her.

Tu manques à Lise.
Lise misses you.

Hélène leur manque.
They miss Hélène.

Mon ancienne école me manque .
I miss my old school.

Léo manque à ma sœur.
My sister misses Léo.

Jean lui manque.
She/he misses Jean

Nous manquons à Patricia.
Patricia misses us.

Q&A

Kelly

Kwiziq community member

21 January 2019

2 replies

Hello, this verb structure seems similar to plaire. Is there any reason plaire is not mentioned in this page? Just wondering. Merci beaucoup!

Chris

Kwiziq community member

22 January 2019

22/01/19

Yes, the constructions are in some cases parallel:

Ses nouvelles chaussures manquent à Lisa. -- Lisa misses her new shoes.

Ses nouvelles chaussures plaisent à Lisa. -- Lisa likes her new shoes. Her new shoes appeal to Lisa.

Note that the construction with plaire is identical to English if you use "appeal" as the verb.

 

Kelly

Kwiziq community member

24 January 2019

24/01/19

Thank you Chris!

Michael

Kwiziq community member

24 December 2018

2 replies

Tu manques à Lise. Lise misses you. -> It's not Lise misses you. anymore, but literally You are lacking to Lise........

This part of the lesson is really messing with my learning process. Please answer me this....In the example, "Tu manques à Lise", IS it or IS IT NOT "Lise misses you."  ???

Chris

Kwiziq community member

25 December 2018

25/12/18

Yes, Lise is the one who is missing over whoever.

The confusion comes about because in English ("Lisa misses you") Lisa is the subject whereas in French ("Tu manques à Lisa") it is "tu".

Michael

Kwiziq community member

26 December 2018

26/12/18

Thank you.

Merry Christmas 

Claudia

Kwiziq community member

7 September 2018

4 replies

Please explain the difference in this example

ranslate "She misses Jacques": ________.Jacques lui manqueJacques manque à elle

Chris

Kwiziq community member

8 September 2018

8/09/18

Hi Claudia,

Jacques lui manque is the correct way, with lui replacing the person who misses Jacque. If the person is mentioned directly, the construction changes: Jacques manque à Anne -- Anne misses Jacques. She misses Jacques -- Jacques lui manque. 

 

Chris

Kwiziq community member

8 September 2018

8/09/18

On another note and to confuse matters slightly:

Je pense à toi -- I'm thinking of you. Correct.
Je te pense. -- INCORRECT

Anna-Liisa

Kwiziq community member

1 October 2018

1/10/18

Alain me manque   

How can that be wrong?  It doesn't make any sense -

Je manque à Alain
My books says different.  Can you explain please?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

1 October 2018

1/10/18

Alain me manque. -- I miss Alain.
Je manque à Alain. -- Alain misses me.

Donald

Kwiziq community member

18 August 2018

1 reply

Manquer à

J'ai toujours eu du mal avec ce verbe.  Je me demande si je pouvais y aller un pas plus loin et dit <Jean me manque et Jean manque à moi>? J'aimerais savoir si les deux sont correcte?  En ce qui concerne les deux phrases, je veux dire <I miss John> en anglais.  Peut-être j'ai tort.  Merci d'avance,

Chris

Kwiziq community member

18 August 2018

18/08/18

"Jean me manque" is correct.

Katrina

Kwiziq community member

18 April 2018

1 reply

I really need to practise some of these over and over. How can I get more questions?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

18 April 2018

18/04/18

Bonjour Katrina !

You can add lessons you specifically want to practise against to your notebook.

Here's a link that shows you how :)
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/faq/notebooks

Bonne journée !

Ian

Kwiziq community member

8 April 2018

2 replies

Comment on dit "The cat misses me" Je manque au chat?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

11 April 2018

11/04/18

Hi Ian,

yes, that sounds correct.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Ian

Kwiziq community member

12 April 2018

12/04/18

Thanks Chris. It just sounded strange. Remerci.

Paul

Kwiziq community member

2 February 2018

1 reply

Je manque à Alain - Alain misses me

I think that is translation is particularly tricky because of the switch from me in English to I in French. Can you please include it in the examples for this lesson?

Gruff

Kwiziq language super star

14 April 2018

14/04/18

I agree it's especially tricky. We'll add some more examples of that form. Thanks!

James

Kwiziq community member

6 October 2017

5 replies

futur proche

James

Kwiziq community member

6 October 2017

6/10/17

oops, sorry, typed in the wrong box ...

Ron

Kwiziq community member

6 October 2017

6/10/17

Bonjour James, Est-ce qu'il y a une question en ce qui concerne cette leçon? Bonne journée.

James

Kwiziq community member

8 October 2017

8/10/17

Oui, peut-être. Avec le futur proche, est-ce qu’on dit <>, ou est-ce qu’on dit <> ou, peut-être, autre chose?

James

Kwiziq community member

8 October 2017

8/10/17

should have said this - Oui, peut-être. Avec le futur proche, est-ce qu’on dit “je vais tu manquer” ou est-ce qu’on dit “je vais tu me manques” ou, peut-être, autre chose? information inside << >> was thrown out ...

Chris

Kwiziq community member

17 October 2017

17/10/17

Hi James, neither of the two sentences seem right to me.

If you want to say "You are going to miss me" -- "Je vais te manquer."
If you want to say "I am going to miss you" -- "Tu vas me manquer."

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Melody

Kwiziq community member

11 September 2016

1 reply

Could you give a reminder/link re: lui vs. elle?

I had the question Translate "She misses Jacques". I chose "Jacques elle manque" (wrong) instead of "Jacques lui manque". The lesson states "...or to use pronouns (i.e. I, you, he, we, they... miss), you will use me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur before manquer.". Would it be possible to add a link to the relevant lesson about pronouns at the bottom of the lesson? It would be helpful to reference this, to understand which pronoun to use in this instance. Thanks.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

12 September 2016

12/09/16

Bonjour Melody ! I've updated the lesson to include links to lessons and glossary articles on indirect object pronouns ! Merci et à bientôt !

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