Clarification of example

AbiA1Kwiziq community member

Clarification of example

I don't understand how "Marie a manqué l'école" means "Marie didn't go to school". There isn't aller in the sentence so how does that work?

Asked 3 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Abi,

The expression,

Manquer l'école

is to skip school, so not to go to school is sort of the same thing...

MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

This could be translated into English as "Marie missed school". This would then be ambiguous in English - did she physically miss it, or emotionally. In French it means only that she missed it physically, not emotionally. Translations are not always literal and direct - in this case, the French sentence is better explained by an English translation that she didn't go/get/make it to school. This is the complementary lesson:  Using manquer (à) to say you miss someone or something emotionally in French

Clarification of example

I don't understand how "Marie a manqué l'école" means "Marie didn't go to school". There isn't aller in the sentence so how does that work?

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