Tu me manques: the reversed verb « manquer »
A2
« Tu me manques » means “I miss you”, not the reverse: the absent person becomes the subject. Includes agreement, à + person, and manquer's other meanings.
The difference in one line
French manquer means « to be missing / absent », not « to miss ». So the person who is away becomes the subject:
Whoever is absent is the subject.
| What you mean | ✅ French | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| I miss you | Tu me manques. | You (absent) are missing to me |
| You miss me | Je te manque. | I (absent) am missing to you |
⚠️ These two sentences mean the opposite of each other — mixing them up flips who misses whom.
The formula
[ absent person = subject ] + [ person who feels it = me / te / lui… ] + manquer
- Tu me manques. → subject = tu
- Ma famille me manque. → subject = ma famille
- Je te manque ? → subject = je (= “do you miss me?”)
The indirect pronoun = the one doing the missing
| Pronoun | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| me | Tu me manques. | I miss you |
| te | Je te manque. | You miss me |
| lui | Tu lui manques. | He/She misses you |
| nous | Vous nous manquez. | We miss you |
| vous | Je vous manque ? | Do you miss me? |
| leur | Tu leur manques. | They miss you |
With a noun: à + person
- Tu manques à tes parents. = Your parents miss you.
- Paul manque à Marie. = Marie is the one who misses Paul.
The verb agrees with the subject (the absent one) ⚠️
- Ma famille me manque. (singular)
- Mes amis me manquent. (plural)
- Vous me manquez.
- Tu me manques.
Common traps (very testable at the TCF) ⚠️
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Je manque toi. | Tu me manques. | Word-for-word translation doesn't work |
| Je te manque. (meaning “I miss you”) | Tu me manques. | Reversed: it actually means “you miss me” |
| Mes parents me manque. | Mes parents me manquent. | Agreement with the subject |
| Tu m'as manquée. | Tu m'as manqué. | m' is an indirect object → no agreement |
Manquer changes meaning with the structure
| Meaning | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| To be missed | manquer à sb | Tu me manques. |
| To miss / skip (a train, a class) | manquer sth (direct object) | J'ai manqué le train. |
| To lack | manquer de sth | Ça manque de sel. |
| To be short of (impersonal) | il manque … à sb | Il me manque 5 euros. |
Bonus: « plaire » works the same way
- Ce film me plaît. = I like this film. (lit. this film pleases me)
- Ces chaussures me plaisent. (plural → plaisent)
Memory shortcut
The absent one is the subject. For “I miss you”, the subject is “tu”: Tu me manques.