What is the difference between manquer and rater?

Question

If I wanted to use the examples above about a train or a concert, what would the difference be for the two verbs? Can I use both or is one wrong? If not, what is the change in meaning?

Accepted Answer

Hi Serian,
The verbs 'manquer' or 'rater' can both be used  for 'to miss a concert or a train' ,  'rater' being less formal than 'manquer'.
You would use 'rater'  only for to fail an exam e.g. 
J 'ai raté mon permis de conduire/ mon bac = I failed my driving test/my baccalaurate
or even - 
J'ai raté ma vie = I made a real hash of my life
There is another informal way to say to miss in French which you might have heard - 'louper' :
J'ai loupé le premier  épisode de cette série = I missed the first episode of this series.
Hope this helps!