French Note 13. More expressions with " MANQUER "
Now let me continue my note on the verb " MANQUER"
3. Let me explain the use of " MANQUER DE"now.
In English we have the word " lack" . Lacking in something ? You know it.
" manquer de" is exactly the same as lacking in something.
When you don't have something in sufficient quantity , you lack that.
English synonyms for lack are absence, dearth, deficiency, deprivation,famine,insufficiency ,need,paucity, privation, scarcity, shortage, want.
The French word has more or less the same meaning.
Now go through the following sentences
Nous manquons de bons professeurs pour enseigner le français .
We do not have sufficient number of good teachers to teach French.
We suffer from dearth of good teachers to teach French.
Ce plat que vous avez préparé manque de sel .
The dish that you prepared has not sufficient quantity of salt.
On manque de savoir-faire pour fabriquer cette machinerie en notre pays.
We have dearth of technical know how in our country to manufacture this machinery.
When people do not possess certain desirable quantities, we can use this verb.
Malgré sa richesse, cet homme manque de gentillesse .
In spite of his wealth, this man lacks kindness.
4. Now let me introduce to another useful construction, " MANQUER+DE+ INFINITIVE OF A VERB"
Sometimes you are about to do something but actually you don't do it. In other words , you narrowly miss doing something either for good or bad. Such situations can be expressed using the above construction. Kindly study the following examples carefully.
Grâce à l'avertissement d'un inconnu , j'ai manqué de tomber dans un puits.
Thanks to the warning of an unknown person, I missed falling into a well.
Cette homme , en pratiquant quelques rituels bizarres , a manqué devenir fou.
This man by practising some strange rituals became almost mad.
See the absence of " de " before " devenir" .
Omission of " de " is permitted. You can as well use the construction , " manquer+ infinitive.
5. " NE+ PAS MANQUER + INFINITIVE "
When you ensure not to miss or forget to do something , you can use the above construction.
Je ne manque pas de regarder certains émissions de la France Culture.
I don't miss watching certain programmes of France Culture.
Ne manquez pas de visiter oncle Tom , quand vous vous trouverez à Londres.
Don't fail to visit Tom uncle when you are in London.
6. Remember that we can use the verb intransitively without any objects.
When you want to say that something failed or is not successful you can use the verb intransitively.
La première fois, un attentat sur Rajiv Gandhi a manqué.
An attempt on Rajiv Gandhi failed in the first time.
Or
A first attempt on Rajiv Gandhi failed.
Le patron est strict envers les personnes qui manquent très souvent.
The boss is strict towards the persons who are absent very often.
So this verb can be used in the sense of " absenting "
7. " SE MANQUER "
When somebody fails in his/ her suicide attempt we can use the pronominal form of the verb.
Cette actrice s'est manquée .
This actress failed in her suicide attempt.
When we miss a meeting or appointment , the pronominal form can be used.
Nous nous sommes manqués de cinq minutes.
We missed each other by five minutes.
In my next post, I shall deal with idiomatic expressions containing this verb.
Hope this note is useful to you.
Bonne journée !
Sayee Jayaraman
22/01/2015
Now let me continue my note on the verb " MANQUER"
3. Let me explain the use of " MANQUER DE"now.
In English we have the word " lack" . Lacking in something ? You know it.
" manquer de" is exactly the same as lacking in something.
When you don't have something in sufficient quantity , you lack that.
English synonyms for lack are absence, dearth, deficiency, deprivation,famine,insufficiency ,need,paucity, privation, scarcity, shortage, want.
The French word has more or less the same meaning.
Now go through the following sentences
Nous manquons de bons professeurs pour enseigner le français .
We do not have sufficient number of good teachers to teach French.
We suffer from dearth of good teachers to teach French.
Ce plat que vous avez préparé manque de sel .
The dish that you prepared has not sufficient quantity of salt.
On manque de savoir-faire pour fabriquer cette machinerie en notre pays.
We have dearth of technical know how in our country to manufacture this machinery.
When people do not possess certain desirable quantities, we can use this verb.
Malgré sa richesse, cet homme manque de gentillesse .
In spite of his wealth, this man lacks kindness.
4. Now let me introduce to another useful construction, " MANQUER+DE+ INFINITIVE OF A VERB"
Sometimes you are about to do something but actually you don't do it. In other words , you narrowly miss doing something either for good or bad. Such situations can be expressed using the above construction. Kindly study the following examples carefully.
Grâce à l'avertissement d'un inconnu , j'ai manqué de tomber dans un puits.
Thanks to the warning of an unknown person, I missed falling into a well.
Cette homme , en pratiquant quelques rituels bizarres , a manqué devenir fou.
This man by practising some strange rituals became almost mad.
See the absence of " de " before " devenir" .
Omission of " de " is permitted. You can as well use the construction , " manquer+ infinitive.
5. " NE+ PAS MANQUER + INFINITIVE "
When you ensure not to miss or forget to do something , you can use the above construction.
Je ne manque pas de regarder certains émissions de la France Culture.
I don't miss watching certain programmes of France Culture.
Ne manquez pas de visiter oncle Tom , quand vous vous trouverez à Londres.
Don't fail to visit Tom uncle when you are in London.
6. Remember that we can use the verb intransitively without any objects.
When you want to say that something failed or is not successful you can use the verb intransitively.
La première fois, un attentat sur Rajiv Gandhi a manqué.
An attempt on Rajiv Gandhi failed in the first time.
Or
A first attempt on Rajiv Gandhi failed.
Le patron est strict envers les personnes qui manquent très souvent.
The boss is strict towards the persons who are absent very often.
So this verb can be used in the sense of " absenting "
7. " SE MANQUER "
When somebody fails in his/ her suicide attempt we can use the pronominal form of the verb.
Cette actrice s'est manquée .
This actress failed in her suicide attempt.
When we miss a meeting or appointment , the pronominal form can be used.
Nous nous sommes manqués de cinq minutes.
We missed each other by five minutes.
In my next post, I shall deal with idiomatic expressions containing this verb.
Hope this note is useful to you.
Bonne journée !
Sayee Jayaraman
22/01/2015
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