All you can Miss and mis-

Attention French and other latin native speakers, "tu me manques" translates into "I miss you".

Don't start your sentence with the object of your affection. Start with you!

The verb « to miss » can have two meanings (deux significations, deux sens):

-You can miss someone that you haven’t seen for sometime
-You can miss a step, a class, an appointement, a bus, a train.

Warning: If you say that you’ve missed the exam, it means you didn’t go to the exam. Not that you failed the exam.

To miss SOMETHING (rater ou manquer un train. Attention, rater un examen ne se traduit pas avec "miss" mais avec "fail")

When you miss something (like an event, an appointment), you literally fail to show up for that event or that appointment.


Ex: There was such a long line at the station that I missed my train and had to wait 45 min for the next one.

Ex: I’ve missed a couple of classes that I need to catch up. Would you mind sharing your notes with me?

Ex: I had to miss school last week. I came down with a bad cold and had to stay in bed for three days.

To miss SOMEONE (se languir de quelqu’un)

To miss someone or to long for someone: The key thing here is to remember NOT to start your sentence in English with the person you miss. Instead, begin you sentence as if you were LITERALLY saying I long for someone (je me languis de quelqu’un).

Ex: My sister lives in Australia. I miss her very much.

If French is your native language, you should be aware that sentences with Miss do not use the same structure.

In English, you miss someone. In French, someone is a « manque » to you. 

Elle me manque -> ma sœur me manque -> je me languis de ma soeur -> I miss my sister.

I miss her. I miss my sister.  I long for my sister.

REMEMBER

To say you long for someone that you haven't seen in a long time, don't start your sentence as you would in your native language (« My sister »). Otherwise you’ll end up saying that your sister misses you “je manque à ma soeur”. While this may be true, that’s not what you initially wanted to say.

Attention french speakers: rater un examen ne se traduit pas avec "miss" mais par "fail" ou plus familièrement par "flunk"

Fill in the blank with “Miss”, “fail” or “lose” conjugated in the appropriate tense.

1.Ex: I arrived late at the airport. I was stuck in traffic. As a result, I missed my flight to Paris.

2. My best friend lives in London. I __ her a lot.

3. You'll ____ your train if you don't hurry up.

4. My friend is trying to ________ weight.

5. You can keep that book, I won't ________ it. I didn’t like it.

6. I ____ the exam again. I should have studied more.

7. I’m so glad to see you. I’ve ___ you so much.
8. I think I’ve ___ my keys. I’ve been looking for them all over and I just can’t find them.

9. Mary and Ann are ______. Why aren't they here?

10. I feel like I’m ____ my mind, I’ve been looking for my glasses everywhere.

11. My office is the one with a red shiny door. You can't _________it.

Get the answers and more!

All you can Mis-

Mis- is a root that is placed before certain verbs to indicate that something didn’t go as planned or as expected. Here are a few examples:

1. Spell --> Mis-spell ->  A spelling mistake.
To misspell is to make an error, a mistake when writing something. Another way to describe an error made in spelling a word is “typo”. It can only work for typed text, and not for handwritten text.

Student : I think that you’ve misspelled my name. It’s actually spelled « L.O.U.I.S. », not « Louise ».

2. Understand ->Mis-understand -> misunderstood (a misunderstanding = un malentendu)
Teacher: Oh sorry about that. I’ll correct it right away to avoid any misunderstanding.

3. Hear -> Mis-hear -> misheard

Student: It’s okay, you probably misheard my name during the first class.

4. Take -> Mis-take -> Mistook

Teacher: Actually, I mistook you for the another student. Sorry about that. (méprendre, méprise, mégarde).

Student: Don’t worry about it, anyone can make a mistake. No harm done.  (faire une erreur, se tromper)

5. Place -> mis-place -> misplaced

To misplace is a synonym of "to lose". It means "égarer".

Teacher: Can I help you with anything else?
Student: Yes, actually I think I might have misplaced my glasses. Would you happen to have seen them?
Teacher: Unfortunately, I haven't. Have you asked the school's lost & found services?