mi sei mancato
In Italian, "I missed you" is expressed as mi sei mancato.
This phrase is used to tell someone that you felt their absence and were sad they were not with you. You may also use Sentivo la tua mancanza to say "I felt your absence" or "I missed you." For more endearing, informal ways to express this, you can say mi sei mancato/a da morire (I missed you to death) or mi sei mancato/a da impazzire (I missed you like crazy).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase mi sei mancato literally translates to "you were missing to me," which reverses the subject-object relationship found in English.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb mancare uses the auxiliary verb essere (to be) rather than avere (to have) in this construction. The past participle must change to agree with the person being missed: use mi sei mancata if the person being missed is female. If you are speaking to a group of people, use mi siete mancati for a mixed or all-male group or mi siete mancate for an all-female group.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid saying ti ho mancato to mean "I missed you". While this follows English word order, it is grammatically incorrect in Italian for this meaning.
Did you know?
- In a formal or poetic context, an Italian speaker might say la tua assenza mi ha pesato, which means 'your absence weighed on me'. This frames the feeling of missing someone as a physical burden.
- In Italian, you can use the phrase mi manchi to express a sense of longing for a place, a time in the past or even a former version of yourself.
- The word mancare is also used to say that someone is 'about to' do something or that a certain amount of time is left, such as mancano due giorni to say 'two days are missing'.
Examples in context
- Mi sei mancato molto.I missed you very much.Tatoeba #381448 by Pharamp, translation #470433 by CK
- Mi sei mancato un sacco.I missed you a lot.Tatoeba #4188129 by Guybrush88, translation #794928 by CM
- Mi sei mancato la scorsa notte.I missed you last night.Tatoeba #2036495 by Guybrush88, translation #2036494 by CM
- Mi sei mancato/a così tanto!I missed you so much!
- Ho davvero sentito la tua mancanza tutto questo tempo!I really missed you all this time!
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lorenzo and Chiara meet at the airport after a long trip.
- LorenzoCiao Chiara, mi sei mancata.Hi Chiara, I missed you.
- ChiaraAnche tu mi sei mancato, Lorenzo.I missed you too, Lorenzo.
- LorenzoNon vedevo l'ora di vederti.I couldn't wait to see you.
- ChiaraAdesso sono finalmente tornata.Now I am finally back.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
