Ich vermisse meine Familie
The English phrase "I miss my family" is translated into German as Ich vermisse meine Familie.
If you wish to express a deeper, more poetic sentiment such as "My heart longs for my family", you can say Mein Herz sehnt sich nach meiner Familie.
Which one should you use?
The verb vermissen is used when you are missing people or things. This differs from the verb fehlen, which is used when something is missing or lacking in a functional sense, such as when something is missing from a list.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase meine Familie, the possessive pronoun uses the feminine accusative form of mein because Familie is a feminine noun and serves as the direct object of the verb. To express the past tense "I missed my family", use the perfect tense Ich habe meine Familie vermisst.
Did you know?
- In German, the word Sehnsucht describes the deep longing expressed in Mein Herz sehnt sich nach meiner Familie, and it has no direct single-word equivalent in English.
- In older German literature, expressing longing for family was often tied to the concept of Heimweh, which literally translates to 'home-pain'.
- While vermissen is the direct translation for 'miss', Germans often use the verb fehlen to say Du fehlst mir, which literally means 'you are missing from me'.
Examples in context
- Ich vermisse meine Familie.I miss my family.Tatoeba #6057647 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #2387238 by CK
- Ich vermisse meine Familie sehr.I miss my family a lot.Tatoeba #12115039 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #12114877 by CK
- Danke fürs Fragen. Ich vermisse meine Familie gerade besondersThank you for asking. I'm missing my family particularly right now
- Liebe Familie, ich vermisse euch so sehr. Jeder Moment ohne euch fühlt sich irgendwie leer an. Ich hoffe, wir sehen uns bald wieder.Dear family, I miss you so much. Every moment without you feels somehow empty. I hope we'll see each other again soon.
Example conversation
Julian and Julia are talking on the phone about living abroad.
- JulianWie geht es dir in Berlin?How are you doing in Berlin?
- JuliaEs ist schön, aber ich vermisse meine Familie.It is nice, but I miss my family.
- JulianDas kann ich gut verstehen.I can understand that well.
- JuliaJa, ich möchte bald nach Hause fahren.Yes, I want to go home soon.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
