The verb MANCARE explained
If you want to say “I miss” in Italian, you should say “mi manca” and not “manco”.
Why so? What does the “mi” in front stand for?
The verb “mancare”
The mi is an indirect pronoun and it’s used because mancare doesn’t follow a regular conjugation pattern, but it has the same construction of the verb “piacere”.
Both verbs piacere and mancare are known as “impersonal verbs”.
Impersonal verbs are conjugated with indirect objects pronouns and in the third persons singular and plural.
That’s why in Italian we can’t say “manco” (which literally would mean something like, “I am lacking”). Instead we use the forms mi manca or mi mancano, which are the third personal singular and plural conjugations of the verb mancare + the appropriate indirect pronoun.
Use the verb “mancare” with the following pattern:
- Mi manca + singular noun, or verb (in the infinitive form)
- Mi mancano + plural noun
Examples:
- Mi manca l’italia → I miss Italy
- Ti manca viaggiare? → Do you miss traveling?
- Mi mancano i miei amici → I miss my friends
Mancare in the present tense
| 3° person singular | 3° person plural | In English |
|---|---|---|
| mi manca | mi mancano | I miss |
| ti manca | ti mancano | you miss |
| gli manca | gli mancano | he misses |
| le manca | le mancano | she misses |
| ci manca | ci mancano | we miss |
| vi manca | vi mancano | you miss (pl.) |
| gli manca | gli mancano | they miss |
Why do you use “a” before mancare, sometimes?
When the person who misses something is explicit (is mentioned), the noun must be preceded by the preposition “a“:
For example,
- A Marco manca l’italia – Marco misses Italy
- A Lucia non manca la sua vecchia casa – Lucia doesn’t miss her old house
- Ai miei amici manca viaggiare – My friends miss traveling
In all of the foregoing sentences Marco, Lucia and i miei amici are explicit.
Of course, if we wanted we could replace the person mentioned with the indirect pronouns, for example:
- Gli (a Marco) manca l’italia – He misses Italy
- Le (a Lucia) non manca la sua vecchia casa – She doesn’t miss her old house
- Gli (ai miei amici) manca viaggiare – They miss travelling
How to say “I missed” – MANCARE with the passato prossimo
Just like in the present tense, mancare follows a different conjugation pattern with the passato prossimo.
| 3° person singular | 3° person plural | In English |
|---|---|---|
| mi è mancato/a | mi sono mancati/e | I missed |
| ti è mancato/a | ti sono mancati/e | you missed |
| gli è mancato/a | gli sono mancati/e | he missed |
| le è mancato/a | le sono mancati/e | she missed |
| ci è mancato/a | ci sono mancati/e | we missed |
| vi è mancato/a | vi sono mancati/e | you missed (pl.) |
| gli è mancato/a | gli sono mancati/e | they missed |
As you can see from the list above, the past tense combines three elements:
the indirect pronouns + the auxiliary essere + the past participle (mancato/a/i/e).
Different uses of the mancare
mancare = non c’è (there’s not)
Mancare is a verb with many usages. One of them is when mancare is used to state that something is there or not there.
In this case the meaning of mancare is similar to the meaning of “there isn’t” and “there aren’t”.
- manca = non c’è (there’s not)
- non manca = c’è (there’s)
- mancano = non ci sono (there are not)
- non mancano = ci sono (there are)
For example:
- manca una persona nel gruppo – one person is missing from the group
- mancano i bicchieri a tavola – there are no glasses on the table
- non manca niente – nothing is missing
Quanto manca?
Another usage of mancare is related with the time and is the translation of the English sentences “X time is left until something”
For example
- mancano due settimane a Natale – there are two weeks left until Christmas
- manca un’ora per arrivare – there’s one hour left until arrival
- mancano 10 minuti alla fine della lezione – there are 10 minutes left until the end of class
This use of mancare is very colloquial and used in spoken in Italian and sometimes it’s hard to translate in English.
mancare vs. perdere
The verb “to miss” has two main definitions in English: either you miss something or someone with nostalgia, or you miss a train, bus, or an opportunity. The verb “to miss” in Italian, however, only has the first meaning (when you miss someone or something in a nostalgic way), not the second.
Use the verb perdere, which means to lose, to say that you missed a train or an opportunity.
- ho perso il treno – I missed my train
- ho perso una grande opportunità – I missed a good opportunity
How to say I miss you
Mi manchi means “I miss you” and I recommend learning this sentence as an expression as this us of the verb mancare is not common in other conjugations or tenses.
