Mi manca il sorriso del mio amico.

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Breakdown of Mi manca il sorriso del mio amico.

• di: of
• l'amico: the friend
• mio: my
• il sorriso: the smile
• mancare: to miss

Questions & Answers about Mi manca il sorriso del mio amico.

Why does the sentence use mi manca instead of something like io manco?

In Italian, the verb mancare works similarly to piacere: it uses an indirect object pronoun (in this case mi) to mean I miss. Literally, mi manca translates to it is missing to me, but in natural English we say I miss.

Why is the verb mancare in the singular form manca?

The verb agrees with the thing that is missing. Here, the missing thing is il sorriso (the smile). Since sorriso is singular, we use manca. If you were talking about multiple things missing, you would use mancano.

Why is the phrase del mio amico used instead of something like di mio amico?

Italian requires the article (il, la, etc.) before possessives in most cases, so you say del mio amico (of my friend’s) rather than just di mio amico. This comes from di + il = del, which pairs with mio amico.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to say I miss my friend’s smiles (plural)?

You would say Mi mancano i sorrisi del mio amico. Notice the verb changes to mancano (plural) to match i sorrisi.

Is there a difference in meaning if I say Mi manca il mio amico instead of Mi manca il sorriso del mio amico?

Yes. Mi manca il mio amico means I miss my friend in a general sense (the person). Mi manca il sorriso del mio amico focuses specifically on missing the friend’s smile, emphasizing that particular aspect.