Verb: manquer à

The French verb “manquer à” means “to miss (someone)” “Manquer” is a regular “-er” verb. In fact it has several meanings, but one of its main meanings is to miss someone, in the sense of wishing that they were here. In this construction, it is used with either “à” or a indirect object pronoun.

Examples of “manquer à”

  • Tu me manques (“I miss you,” but literally “You are missing to me”)
  • Je te manque (“You miss me,” but literally “I am missing to you”)
  • Ma famille me manque (“I miss my family,” but literally “My family is missing to me”)
  • Il lui manque (“She misses him,” but literally “He is missing to her”)
  • Elle lui manque (“He misses her,” but literally “She is missing to him”)
  • Nous leur manquons (“They miss us,” but literally “We are missing to them”)
  • Nous manquons à Mathilde (“Mathilde misses us,” but literally “We are missing to Mathilde”)
  • Marc manque à Fabienne (“Fabienne misses Marc,” but literally “Marc is missing to Fabienne”)

When you long for someone or something that is absent, you use “manquer” with either an indirect object pronoun (or COI – Complément d’Object Indirect in French), or with “à” and the name of the person or persons who are experiencing the emotion of missing someone.

Don’t miss new articles!

Get 1 email a week with new articles about French

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy

Similar Posts

  • Reflexive (pronominal) verbs

    French reflexive verbs, also called pronominal verbs, are used when the subject of a sentence is also the object—when someone does something to themselves. These verbs are very common in everyday French and often describe actions related to daily routines, personal care, emotions, and social interactions. Many have both reflexive and non-reflexive forms, depending on…

  • appel du pied

    An “appel du pied” literally means a “call of the foot” but actually means a discrete invitation, a seduction attempt, an allusive proposal or simply an invitation. Its origin is unknown. There is a related term that exists in the world of fencing with swords, but it doesn’t seem to be linked to this usage….

  • être

    The French verb “être” is the equivalent of the English verb “to be.” It’s the most frequently used verb in the whole French language. It’s an irregular verb, which means that is doesn’t follow regular conjugation patterns. This is the present tense of être: The verb être is used to express identity, nationality, and describing…

  • verb: suivre

    I. Meanings of “Suivre” 1. To Follow:The most common usage of “suivre” is to indicate following someone or something. For example: 2. To Follow a Course:“Suivre” can also be used to describe tracking or taking a course of action, such as following a recipe or a study program: 3. To Keep Up With:In contexts involving…