Manquer Conjugation in French
manquer means “to miss, to lack” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of manquer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je manque mon train ce matin.” — “I miss my train this morning.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and manquer is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: manquer
- English: to miss, to lack
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en manquant
- Past participle: manqué
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for manquer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for manquer. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manque |
| tu | manques |
| il/elle | manque |
| nous | manquons |
| vous | manquez |
| ils/elles | manquent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manquai |
| tu | manquas |
| il/elle | manqua |
| nous | manquâmes |
| vous | manquâtes |
| ils/elles | manquèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manquais |
| tu | manquais |
| il/elle | manquait |
| nous | manquions |
| vous | manquiez |
| ils/elles | manquaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manquerai |
| tu | manqueras |
| il/elle | manquera |
| nous | manquerons |
| vous | manquerez |
| ils/elles | manqueront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manquerais |
| tu | manquerais |
| il/elle | manquerait |
| nous | manquerions |
| vous | manqueriez |
| ils/elles | manqueraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai manqué |
| tu | as manqué |
| il/elle | a manqué |
| nous | avons manqué |
| vous | avez manqué |
| ils/elles | ont manqué |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais manqué |
| tu | avais manqué |
| il/elle | avait manqué |
| nous | avions manqué |
| vous | aviez manqué |
| ils/elles | avaient manqué |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai manqué |
| tu | auras manqué |
| il/elle | aura manqué |
| nous | aurons manqué |
| vous | aurez manqué |
| ils/elles | auront manqué |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais manqué |
| tu | aurais manqué |
| il/elle | aurait manqué |
| nous | aurions manqué |
| vous | auriez manqué |
| ils/elles | auraient manqué |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manque |
| tu | manques |
| il/elle | manque |
| nous | manquions |
| vous | manquiez |
| ils/elles | manquent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | manquasse |
| tu | manquasses |
| il/elle | manquât |
| nous | manquassions |
| vous | manquassiez |
| ils/elles | manquassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | manque |
| nous | manquons |
| vous | manquez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | manque |
| nous | manquons |
| vous | manquez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en manquant |
| Past participle | manqué |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je manque mon train ce matin.” — “I miss my train this morning.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu manquas mon train ce matin.” — “You missed my train this morning one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il manquait mon train ce matin quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to miss my train this morning.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous manquerons mon train ce matin.” — “We will miss my train this morning tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous manqueriez mon train ce matin.” — “You would miss my train this morning if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With manquer it is formed with avoir + the past participle manqué. For example: “Ils ont manqué mon train ce matin hier.” — “They have missed my train this morning.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais manqué mon train ce matin avant la fête.” — “I had missed my train this morning before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras manqué mon train ce matin.” — “You will have missed my train this morning by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait manqué mon train ce matin.” — “He would have missed my train this morning if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je manque mon train ce matin.” — “It is important that I miss my train this morning.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je manquasse mon train ce matin.” — “It was important that I miss my train this morning.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Manque mon train ce matin !” — “Miss my train this morning!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Manque mon train ce matin !” — “Do not miss my train this morning!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en manquant — “while missing” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is manqué, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai manqué.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with manquer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je manque mon train ce matin.” — “I miss my train this morning.”
- “Tu manques mon train ce matin.” — “You miss my train this morning.”
- “Il manquait mon train ce matin.” — “He used to miss my train this morning.”
- “Nous manquerons mon train ce matin.” — “We will miss my train this morning tomorrow.”
- “Je manquerais mon train ce matin.” — “I would miss my train this morning if I could.”
- “Tu as manqué mon train ce matin.” — “You have missed my train this morning.”
- “Il avait manqué mon train ce matin.” — “He had missed my train this morning before the party.”
- “Nous aurons manqué mon train ce matin.” — “We will have missed my train this morning by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je manque mon train ce matin.” — “It is important that I miss my train this morning.”
- “Manque mon train ce matin !” — “Miss my train this morning!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je manquer mon train ce matin.”
✓ Right: “Je manque mon train ce matin.”
The infinitive manquer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form manque.
2. Using the wrong tense for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je manquais mon train ce matin hier.” (for one finished event yesterday)
✓ Right: “J'ai manqué mon train ce matin hier.”
A single finished event in the past takes the passé composé (ai manqué), not the imperfect.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis manqué mon train ce matin.”
✓ Right: “J'ai manqué mon train ce matin.”
With manquer the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai manqué.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je manque mon train ce matin.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je manque mon train ce matin.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use manque here, not the indicative manque.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Je manque mon train ce matin hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai manqué mon train ce matin hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai manqué), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of manquer in the Present indicative?
- A) manques
- B) manquent
- C) manquons
- D) manque
What is the ils/elles form of manquer in the Present indicative?
- A) manques
- B) manquez
- C) manquons
- D) manquent
What is the il/elle form of manquer in the Passé simple?
- A) manquèrent
- B) manquai
- C) manqua
- D) manquâmes
What is the nous form of manquer in the Imperfect?
- A) manquaient
- B) manquiez
- C) manquais
- D) manquions
What is the tu form of manquer in the Future?
- A) manqueront
- B) manquerez
- C) manqueras
- D) manquerons
What is the je form of manquer in the Conditional?
- A) manquerais
- B) manquerions
- C) manquerait
- D) manqueriez
What is the il/elle form of manquer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as manqué
- B) avez manqué
- C) ai manqué
- D) a manqué
What is the vous form of manquer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais manqué
- B) avait manqué
- C) aviez manqué
- D) avaient manqué
What is the gerund of manquer?
- A) en manquant
- B) manqué
- C) manque
- D) manquerai
What is the past participle of manquer?
- A) en manquant
- B) manque
- C) manquais
- D) manqué
Answer key
- D) manque — the je form of manquer in the present indicative is manque.
- D) manquent — the ils/elles form of manquer in the present indicative is manquent.
- C) manqua — the il/elle form of manquer in the passé simple is manqua.
- D) manquions — the nous form of manquer in the imperfect is manquions.
- C) manqueras — the tu form of manquer in the future is manqueras.
- A) manquerais — the je form of manquer in the conditional is manquerais.
- D) a manqué — the il/elle form of manquer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a manqué.
- C) aviez manqué — the vous form of manquer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez manqué.
- A) en manquant — the gerund of manquer is en manquant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- D) manqué — the past participle of manquer is manqué; perfect tenses use avoir + manqué.
Frequently asked questions
What does manquer mean in English?
manquer means “to miss, to lack”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je manque mon train ce matin.” (“I miss my train this morning.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is manquer regular or irregular?
manquer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en manquant and the past participle is manqué.
What are the gerund and past participle of manquer?
The gerund is en manquant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is manqué — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai manqué.
How do I say “I miss” in French?
Say “Je manque mon train ce matin.” — “I miss my train this morning.” The je form of the present is manque, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn manquer
Start with the present tense: manque, manques, manque, manquons, manquez, manquent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai manqué — and the imperfect — manquais. Next, learn the future (manquerai) and the conditional (manquerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (manque) and the imperative (manque). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- manquer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- manquer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Rentrer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise manquer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise manquer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.