"Je manque à elle" vs. "Elle me manque"

Gregory S.C1Kwiziq community member

"Je manque à elle" vs. "Elle me manque"

I was deeply confused by this, but I think I now understand.

I can say "Mon chat me manque.", or "Mon chat manque à Jean.". HOWEVER,

"Mon chat manque à moi" and "Mon chat manque à elle" are NOT correct.

Am I understanding this correctly?



Asked 3 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Yes. 

As the indirect object pronouns here are replacing the phrase “à qqn” you can’t use them in the phrase following the verb as “à (indirect object pronoun)“ as that would  be equivalent to saying “à à qqn”.

 

 

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Gregory - just checking you meant for the 2 sentences in your heading to have different subjects, and therefore different people being missed ? 

I have 2 ways of thinking of this in English, based on Aurélie’s notes  1. The subject is “lacking to” the object 

2. The subject is “being missed by” the object

‘Reverse’ thinking is also needed with plaisir

Gregory S.C1Kwiziq community member

Thanks very much for your answer. After I'd entered the subject of my post (which I couldn't edit), I realized that it was wrong. I'd intended to mean that "She misses me" in both instances.

"Elle me manque" means "I miss her."
"She/he misses me" would be "Je lui manque."
Is that correct? This has been driving me nuts. I'm usually very quick with grammar, but this has been a challenge!

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Yes. It is difficult - I usually end up telling my wife she misses me, which doesn’t have half the impact of saying I miss her ! 

"Je manque à elle" vs. "Elle me manque"

I was deeply confused by this, but I think I now understand.

I can say "Mon chat me manque.", or "Mon chat manque à Jean.". HOWEVER,

"Mon chat manque à moi" and "Mon chat manque à elle" are NOT correct.

Am I understanding this correctly?



Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...