Breakdown of Ses enfants lui manquent.
l'enfant
the child
lui
him / to him / to her (indirect object)
son
his/her/its
manquer
to miss (someone)
Questions & Answers about Ses enfants lui manquent.
Why is the verb plural (manquent) if the English translation starts with the singular "He misses"?
In French, the verb manquer (when meaning "to miss someone") works backwards compared to English. The people being missed are the subject, and the person feeling the loss is the indirect object. Literally, this sentence says "His children are lacking to him". Since the children (ses enfants) are the subject, the verb must be in the plural form (manquent).
What is the role of lui in this sentence?
Lui is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to him" or "to her". Because the French structure is manquer à quelqu'un (to be missing to someone), you must use an indirect object pronoun to show who is feeling the lack. Like most object pronouns in French, it is placed immediately before the verb.
Could this sentence also translate to "She misses her children"?
Yes, absolutely! French possessive adjectives agree with the noun being possessed, so ses just means the children are plural, not whether the parent is male or female. Similarly, the indirect object pronoun lui translates to both "to him" and "to her". You would need more context to know the gender of the parent.
How would I use the negative adjective aucun to say "He misses none of his children" (or "not a single one")?
Because the children are the subject of this sentence, the negative adjective must wrap around the subject. You would say: Aucun de ses enfants ne lui manque. (Literally: Not a single one of his children is missing to him). Notice that the verb manque becomes singular here, because aucun(e) is always grammatically singular!
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