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Help with french translation please
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Hi, I'm learning French from a book called "five minute French". There's a section covering sending a postcard and it includes the phrase "I miss you". In French this is "Tu me manques". Surely this means "You miss me"? I would have thought "I miss you" would be "Je tu manque"
Can anyone explain?
Thanks
Can anyone explain?
Thanks
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by Francis Asis. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I think it's because manquer does not translate exactly as the english 'miss'. It's a transitive verb and means more, in this case, like 'cause to feel like yo'ure missing something', In other words tu me manques means literally 'you cause me to miss you'. Just a feature of the many language differences such as we say 'I am cold' and in French it translates to 'i have cold'
Prudie is correct. Manquer, in this sense, has the meaning of "to be absent". So, "tu me manques" means "you are absent to me" or, put another way, "you are missing from my life".
And, just for completeness, "je *te* manque" (not "je *tu* manque") means "you miss me" in the sense of "I am absent from your life".
Strangely, "manquer" is often translated in dictionaries as "to miss", but French doesn't usually use that verb where we would say "miss". In fact, the example you have given is one of the few occasions where they do. Much more common is "rater" or "louper"...
And, just for completeness, "je *te* manque" (not "je *tu* manque") means "you miss me" in the sense of "I am absent from your life".
Strangely, "manquer" is often translated in dictionaries as "to miss", but French doesn't usually use that verb where we would say "miss". In fact, the example you have given is one of the few occasions where they do. Much more common is "rater" or "louper"...