Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| manquer | /mɑ̃.ke/ |
| regretter | /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/ |
Manquer is used to express the feeling of missing someone or something, or to feel the absence of them. In a different sense, the noun raté refers to a failure to hit. To address an unmarried woman, the term mademoiselle or madame is used.
What does it mean word for word?
The construction used with manquer to express missing someone, such as Tu me manques, literally translates to 'You are lacking to me'.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using manquer to mean 'to miss someone', the grammatical subject is the person being missed rather than the person doing the missing.
How do you pronounce it?
manquer is pronounced /mɑ̃.ke/. It has 2 syllables.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use English word order by saying Je manque toi to mean 'I miss you'. Instead, you should use the correct French construction Tu me manques.
When do people say it?
Mademoiselle is the equivalent of 'Miss' in English and is used to address young, unmarried women.
Did you know?
- The term mademoiselle was officially removed from French government forms and administrative documents in 2012 to avoid distinguishing women by marital status.
- The verb manquer shares an ancient root with the word 'maimed', coming from the Italian 'manco' which refers to something being incomplete or deficient.
- In French, if you say Je manque l'autobus, you are not expressing an emotional longing for the bus, but rather that you failed to catch it.
Examples in context
- Tu vas me manquer.I'll miss you.This sentence shows how to express 'I'll miss you' using manquer.Tatoeba #10203 by sacredceltic, translation #71632 by CK
- Tu vas nous manquer.We're going to miss you.This sentence shows how to express 'We're going to miss you' using manquer.Tatoeba #3693579 by Elliv, translation #3310756 by CK
- Ils vont me manquer.I'm going to miss them.This sentence shows how to express 'I'm going to miss them' using manquer.Tatoeba #11969151 by Bernie75, translation #3911942 by CH
- Mademoiselle Dupont, nous vous invitons cordialement à la réunion.Miss Dupont, we cordially invite you to the meeting.
- Pourriez-vous remplir ce formulaire, mademoiselle?Could you please fill out this form, Miss?
- Salut Mademoiselle, comment ça va?Hi Miss, how are you doing?
- 161 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel are talking about their old home city.
- LéaMa famille me manque beaucoup.I miss my family a lot.
- GabrielJe comprends, Paris peut manquer à tout le monde.I understand, everyone can miss Paris.
- LéaOui, le café du coin me manque aussi.Yes, I miss the corner café too.
- GabrielOn ira y faire un tour bientôt.We will go visit it soon.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “miss” translations and entries manquer, regretter, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries manquer, regretter, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
