Plaire and Manquer

plaire-to please, enjoy					manquer-to miss, be lacking
plais	pleh	plaisons	pleh-zohn		manque	mawnk	manquons	mawn-kohn
plais	pleh	plaisez	pleh-zay		manques	mawnk	manquez	mawn-kay
plaît	pleh	plaisent	plehzz		manque	mawnk	manquent	mawnk

The past participle of plaire is plu.  To say that someone likes
something, you have to switch the subject and object around, so that literally
it translates to "something or someone pleases."  As a reflexive verb,
se plaire means to enjoy being somewhere.  Faire plaisir à
can also be used to mean "to delight or to like."

Cette chienne plaît à Dominique.  Dominique likes this
dog.  (Literally:  This dog is pleasing to Dominique.)


Ça t'a plu?  Did you like it?

Ils se plaisent à Londres.  They enjoy being in London.

Cela me fait plaisir de vous revoir.  I am happy to see you again.

Manquer has several meanings: to miss, to lack, or to regret the absence
(miss).  The last meaning uses inverted word order just like
plaire.  Manquer à means "to fail to do."

Elle a manqué le train.  She missed the train.

Vous manquez de courage.  You lack courage.

Tu me manques.  I miss you.  (Literally:  You are missing
to me)

Ils ont manqué aux devoirs.  They failed to do the homework.

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This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages