French Grammar – Using the Verb Manquer

The Verb manquer : Different Meanings Not to Be Missed

This verb is very interesting as it means at the same time “to lack” or “to run out of something”, to “fail”, and, its main meaning, “to miss”. And this is when it becomes very confusing for English speakers as it is used in a very different way. It is interesting, too, to discover a few expressions in which manquer is used in everyday language.
In this article, through examples, we will help you to know in which circumstances this verb is used.

1 -To miss:

a) I miss someone/something

More and more nowadays, manquer is used when talking about someone that you miss, or something you are attached to, such as your home country. But, contrary to the English, you don’t say that you miss someone or something but that someone or something is missed by you, which seems very bizarre to all English speakers!

Examples:
Mes grands‐parents me manquent. = I miss my grandparents.
Mes cours de chant ne me manquent pas trop. = I don’t miss my singing lessons too much.
La France me manque, je ne peux plus y aller en ce moment. = I miss France, I can’t go there at the moment.

b) Someone misses me

In this sentence format, it is necessary to add the preposition à after manquer.

Examples:
Je sais que je manque à mes parents depuis que je suis partie. = I know that my parents miss me since I left.
Il manque à sa fille depuis le confinement. = His daughter misses him since the lockout.

c) I missed the train

Manquer also means to miss the train, for example, but in common language, the French have a tendency to use the verbs rater or louper (see further).

Example:
J’ai manqué le train. = I missed the train.

2 -To lack, to run out (of something)

When meaning “to lack”, manquer is used in many common expressions, such as those listed below. When it has this meaning, manquer is followed by de or d’ in front of a vowel. For example: Manquer de courage = to lack courage, manquer de goût = to lack taste, manquer de respect = to lack respect, etc.

Examples:
On manque de tout, les étagères du supermarché sont presque vides depuis le début de l’épidémie ! = We’re running out of everything, the shelves at the supermarket are almost empty since the beginning of the epidemic!
Roger a manqué de farine, il n’a plus pu faire de pain. = Roger lacked flour, he couldn’t bake bread anymore.
Ce jeune homme manque d’expérience. = This young man lacks experience.

3 -To fail

When meaning “to fail”, the verb manquer is usually followed by à, except when it is used to talk about an exam. But in such case the verb rater is more frequently used nowadays (see further).

Examples:
J’ai manqué mon examen de français. = I failed my French exam.
Il a manqué à ses devoirs. = He failed in his duties.
Les politiciens manquent souvent à leurs engagements. = Politicians often fail in/break their commitments.

4 -A few expressions with the verb manquer

Several interesting expressions are useful to know. Here are the most commonly used by the French, and how they are used in context with examples.

Je n’y manquerai pas = I’ll be sure to/I’ll do so.

This expression is always used like this, in the future tense.

Example:
Tu pourras penser à demander à Marc de m’envoyer son CV ? = Could you think of asking Marc to send me his resume?
Oh oui, compte sur moi, je n’y manquerai pas ! = Oh sure, count on me, I’ll be sure to/I’ll do so.

Manquer à l’appel = to be missing, to be missed

It’s main use is when you’re talking of a student who is missing at school when the teacher calls the roll (fait l’appel). But nowadays it is more and more often used when talking of someone who is away when people were hoping he/she would be there. In this case it means “to be missed”.

Examples:
Angela a encore manqué à l’appel ce matin. Je vais être obligé d’en parler à ses parents. = Angela was missing again this morning. I’ll be obliged to talk to her parents about it.
C’est vraiment dommage que tu ne puisses pas venir pour le mariage ! Tu vas manquer à l’appel ! = It’s really too bad that you cannot come for the wedding! You’ll be missed!

Le temps me manque = I’m short of time

This is another interesting expression, which means je manque de temps (I lack time, I run out of time) which is also commonly used in French. But the construction of le temps me manque (or le temps nous manque) is surprising as it literary says: time is lacking to me!

Examples:
Je n’arriverai jamais à finir ce projet, le temps me manque ! = I’ll never be able to finish this project, I’m short of time!
Maintenant qu’on est confinés, on ne peut plus dire que le temps nous manque pour faire tout ce qu’on veut ! = Now that we’re locked in, we cannot say anymore that we’re short of time to do all that we wanted to do!

Il ne manque plus que ça ! = That’s all I/we need!

An idiomatic expression expressing a strong disagreement or disappointment.

Example:
Le moteur de la voiture est tombé en panne juste quand il s’est mis à pleuvoir très fort ! Il ne manquait plus que ça ! = The car engine broke down just when it started to rain a lot! That’s all I needed!

5- Rater and louper

As we said earlier, the verbs rater and louper replace more and more often manquer in some contexts, both to mean “to miss” or “to fail”. Rater is more frequently used, while louper is a familiar verb that can be slightly pejorative sometimes. Rater and louper also mean to mess up.

Examples:
J’ai raté le dernier avion pour Paris ! = I missed the last plane to Paris!
Ma fille a raté son examen de sciences. = My daughter failed her sciences exam.
J’ai complètement loupé ma mayonnaise. = I completely missed/messed up my mayonnaise

Annick Stevenson