Level: A2 (upper beginner)
The French word of the day is manquer (A2), which means both to miss and to lack. In this lesson we cover four usages of the verb including the tricky ‘tu me manques‘ (I miss you).
Manquer – IPA pronunciation /mɑ̃.ke/
French Word of the Day: Manquer in Example Sentences
Usages of manquer in French
Usage 1 – to miss
One of the most common usages of manquer is ‘to miss’ as in missing a person or place. For these first three example sentences, the person or thing that you are missing is the subject of the sentence.
Tu me manques. Vous me manquez.
I miss you. (singular informal + plural/formal forms)
I miss my friend.
I miss Paris.
Usage 2 – to lack
Je manque d’énergie. Je suis très fatigué.
I lack energy. I am tired.
Manquer de + noun means “to lack”. Another example sentence here could be “La soupe manque du sel” (the soup lacks salt).
Usage 3 – to fail to keep
Le sénateur manque à ses promesses.
The senator fails to keep his promises.
Manquer à + noun can translate “to not respect” or “fail to keep”.
Usage 4 – to miss (train, bus, etc.)
Shoot! We missed the train!
For this sentence, manquer means ‘to miss’ as in missing a train or bus. Synonym verbs here could be rater or louper.
Words related to manquer
- Avoir besoin de to need
- Regretter to regret, to miss
- Être privé de to be deprived of
- Avoir le mal de to be homesick for
- Soupirer après to long or yearn for
- Se languir de to pine or languish for
Continue learning French
We understand that the usage of manquer can be quite tricky. Camille at French Today does a fantastic job explaining the verb in this blog post: I Miss you in French.
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