- In this video,
we are going to tell you how to use the verb "mancare"
in Italian.
Let's begin!
(upbeat music)
- Hello everyone! Welcome to Coffee Break Italian. I'm Mark.
- Hello everyone! I'm Francesca.
- And in this video,
we are answering a question from Shelagh.
Shelagh wanted to know how to use the verb "mancare".
It's a tricky verb.
It means "to miss",
but it works differently from how "to miss"
works in English.
Francesca, over to you.
- Yes, Mark,
it works a little bit differently,
if we compare English and Italian.
But, hopefully, in this video,
we can clarify the structure of this verb,
with some useful examples.
- Sounds like a good idea.
So, let's begin with an example.
- Okay, let's start with the sentence "mi manca l'Italia".
- Okay, this is something that I say to myself every day,
at the moment, just about.
- (laughs)
- "Mi manca l'Italia".
So, it means "I miss Italy".
- Yes.
- But it's a little bit different.
It's a little bit "wonky" when we look at this in English,
because we've got "mi", which means?
- "To me".
And then "manca"?
- "Misses", or "is missing".
- "Misses" or "is missing".
And then, we've got of course...
- Obviously, "l'Italia". (laughs)
- So, if we say "mi manca l'Italia",
it means "to me is missing Italy".
"I've got a feeling of missing-ness,
towards Italy".
- (laughs)
- "Mi manca l'Italia", "to me is missing Italy".
But that "mi" there is an interesting one,
because it's an indirect object pronoun, isn't it.
- Yes, exactly.
It's a pronoun, meaning "to me".
So, in a way, if we look at the sentence,
Italy is performing the action of missing to me.
And if our listeners are familiar with the verb "piacere",
"to like",
they can somehow compare the structure of "mancare",
with the structure of "piacere".
When you say "mi piaca l'Italia", "I like Italy".
But let's focus on "mancare". (laughs)
- Okay.
So I think what would be useful,
is if we just take a quick look,
at our indirect object pronouns,
so that we can learn how to say you miss Italy,
he misses Italy, she misses Italy, and so on.
So we'll start with "mi".
We've got "mi" as in "mi manca l'Italia".
What about you miss Italy?
- "Ti manca l'Italia".
- So "ti manca l'Italia", Italy is missing to you.
He misses Italy?
- "Gli",
G-L-I.
- Okay, so "gli manca l'Italia", "to him is missing Italy".
And she misses Italy?
"Le manca Italia", "to her is missing Italy".
I've put those both on the same line,
because they're both the third person singular, okay?
So "gli" and "le".
"Le manca l'Italia", "to her is missing Italy",
or "she misses Italy".
What about "to us is missing Italy"?
- "Ci manca l'Italia". "Ci".
- "Ci", "to us is missing Italy", or "we miss Italy".
What about "to all of you"?
- "Vi".
- "Vi manca l'Italia".
And what about "to them is missing Italy"?
- We can just use again the "gli".
- Yep.
So easiest thing would be to use "gli" again.
So "gli manca l'Italia", "to them is missing Italy".
That's all very well Francesca,
but what if we want to say "Mark is missing Italy"?
- Oh, that's a good question.
Well, we still have to convey the idea of "to someone".
But when we're using the name of a person,
as is the case here with Mark,
we do that by adding the preposition "a",
which means "to".
So Mark misses Italy,
"a Mark manca l'Italia".
- "A Mark manca l'Italia". Perfect.
So far, so good.
- Yes.
- What else do we need to consider with this?
- So far, we've seen only something singular,
missing to someone.
So "I miss Italy", which is something singular.
But you can miss something plural.
And if we reverse the order in Italian,
it's "something plural are missing to me".
So we have to consider changing the ending of the verb,
which changes from "manca" to "mancano".
- Okay, so that becomes a plural just like any other verb.
It's a regular, a mostly regular,
"-are" verb, in this case,
and these persons, so "manca" becomes "mancano".
So, can we put that into a sentence then?
- Yes, we can say
"mi mancano i miei amici".
- So, let's think about this.
"Mi mancano", so "to me are missing",
"I miei amici", my friends.
Or, "I miss my friends".
"My friends are missing to me".
"Mi mancano i miei amici".
- Exactly.
And then we can add exactly the same,
indirect object pronouns,
we have just seen for the singular sentence,
and they work perfectly well also in this sentence.
- Can you give us an example of that, then?
- Yes. I could ask you
"Mark, ti mancano i miei amici?".
"Do you miss my friends?".
- Of course! "Mi mancano i tuoi amici".
- (laughs)
- "Your friends are missing to me".
So "mi mancano", in this case,
"mi mancanoi tuoi amici",
your friends...
- Yes.
- ...are missing to me.
"Mi mancano i tuoi amici".
But it's this plural form of the verb,
because this part is plural.
The subject is plural, okay?
My friends, your friends, they are the subject of this verb.
With the object being me.
"To me are missing your friends".
And that's a tricky thing,
because, in English, it's the opposite way around.
- Yes.
- But we'll not go into that too much.
- (laughs) No, no.
- Francesca, I've got one more question here.
What about if I miss you?
How do you say that in Italian?
- Good question, Mark.
And it's also a very useful sentence to have.
And, in this case, because it's not "it",
or "they" missing to me, but it's "you missing to me",
then we have to change the verb again.
And we have to use the second person singular,
of the verb "mancare",
which is "manchi", spelled with an "H".
- Okay, so "manchi" is "you are missing",
- Mmm-hmm. - And therefore,
it would become "you are missing to me",
or "to me, you are missing".
Therefore we would say... - Exactly.
- ..."mi manchi".
- "Mi manchi", yes, "I miss you".
- And it's tricky, because when you say "mi manchi",
and then you say "I miss you",
it sounds a little bit strange,
because of course, it's "to me, you are missing".
Like so.
- Exactly, yes. (laughs)
- Right, well there we have "mancare".
Hopefully,
this has helped Shelagh understand how "mancare" is used.
And if you have a question, like Shelagh,
then just get in touch with us.
You an send your question to coffeebreakquestions.com
and we'll be very happy to see all your questions,
and hopefully include them in future episodes of the show.
If you've enjoyed this, if this has helped you,
work out how to use "mancare",
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Click the little bell icon that appears,
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- And I would love to hear,
if there is something that you are missing,
or not missing, at this very time.
So let us know by writing a sentence,
with the verb "mancare",
in the comments here below.
- Great. Well, thank you very much, Francesca!
- Yes. Thank you and thanks everyone!
- Thank you also to Shelagh,
for sending in your question,
and we'll be back soon with more Coffee Break Italian!
Bye!
- See you soon!
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