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ils manquaient

missed, were lacking, lacked

→ manquer
manqu to miss (a train, flight, etc.) + aient ils/elles imperfect
verb · 3rd-person plural, imperfect tense Rare #41,643
missed With a person or thing that is missed, French uses manquer à: the person or thing comes before the verb, and the person who misses them is introduced by à.
FR: Ses amis lui manquaient.
EN: She missed her friends.
were lacking, lacked With de, manquer means “to lack” or “to be short of” something.
FR: Ils manquaient de temps.
EN: They were short of time.
Conjugation of manquer
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First manquais —
Second manquais manquiez
Third manquait manquaient

Les trains ne manquaient pas à Chicago.

There was no shortage of trains in Chicago.

Les plaisanteries de Rima manquaient à Ziri.

Ziri missed Rima's jokes.

Ces hanches me manquaient.

I missed those hips.

— Pour l'éternité (2025)

Les amis de Marie lui manquaient.

Marie missed her friends.

Les mots me manquaient.

Words failed me.

Pas mal d'élèves manquaient aujourd'hui.

Quite a few students were absent today.

Les plantes sont mortes parce qu'elles manquaient d'eau.

The plants died because they lacked water.