Two common ways of talking about missing someone in French are with the verbs:
- manquer (à quelqu’un)
- s’ennuyer (de quelqu’un)
For example, “I miss you”:
- Tu me manques.
- Je m’ennuie de toi.
With manquer, the person missed becomes the subject. With s’ennuyer, the person doing the missing is the subject.
In the very first episode of a series called Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin (currently available on tou.tv), we hear a female character use the expression s’ennuyer de quelqu’un:
Sa soeur s’ennuie beaucoup beaucoup beaucoup de lui.
His sister misses him very very very much.
If you have trouble using these expressions, you could maybe just remember for now tu me manques and je m’ennuie de toi as models of use.
Remember: je te manque doesn’t mean “I miss you,” it means “you miss me” (or more literally, “I am missing to you”). With manquer, “I miss you” is tu me manques (or more literally, “you are missing to me”).
[Quote from Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, “La tornade,” season 1, episode 1, Radio-Canada, Montreal, 19 September 2006.]
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