Say I miss you with two different sentence patterns: compare fehlen and vermissen, who becomes the subject, and the cases you need.
The idea
With fehlen, the absent person or thing is the subject: Du fehlst mir. With vermissen, the person who notices or feels the absence is the subject: Ich vermisse dich. Mir is dative; dich is accusative.
| Pattern / form | German example |
|---|---|
| fehlen: Subjekt + Dativ | Du fehlst mir. |
| vermissen: Subjekt + Akkusativ | Ich vermisse dich. |
| Plural als Subjekt | Die Freunde fehlen mir. |
| Abwesenheit ohne Person im Dativ | Im Text fehlt ein Wort. |
| Perfekt mit haben | hat gefehlt / hat vermisst |
Practise the supporting grammar before changing the people or tense in these examples: Accusative or dative? Compare German sentence patterns
Read the whole construction
For one friend, Du fehlst mir and Ich vermisse dich can express the same feeling. For several friends, the fehlen sentence changes its verb: Meine Freunde fehlen mir; the vermissen sentence stays Ich vermisse meine Freunde. Fehlen also states a plain absence, as in Eine Seite fehlt. Vermissen can also mean noticing that an object is missing, so it is not limited to emotional feelings about people.
Examples
- Du fehlst mir.I miss you.
- Ich vermisse meine Freunde.I miss my friends.
- Meine Freunde fehlen mir hier.I miss my friends here.
- Im Buch fehlt eine Seite.A page is missing from the book.
- Ich vermisse die Ruhe auf dem Land.I miss the peace and quiet of the countryside.
- Wir haben dich sehr vermisst.We have missed you a lot.
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Watch out
Do not keep the same subject when converting the sentence. Ich fehle dir means you miss me, not I miss you.
Try it yourself
Du fehlst mir. Gleiche Bedeutung: Ich vermisse ___.
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dich
dich — This is the accusative object of the stated verb pattern.
Meine Freunde ___ mir. (fehlt / fehlen)
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fehlen
fehlen — The subject is plural, so the verb needs the plural ending.
Ich fehle dir. Gleiche Bedeutung: Du vermisst ___.
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mich
mich — This is the accusative object of the stated verb pattern.
Wir haben euch ___. (vermissen)
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vermisst
vermisst — The auxiliary is already present; use the past participle shown in the reference.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
Du fehlst mir. Gleiche Bedeutung: Ich vermisse ___.
Meine Freunde ___ mir. (fehlt / fehlen)
Ich fehle dir. Gleiche Bedeutung: Du vermisst ___.
Wir haben euch ___. (vermissen)
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write two connected sentences about your own situation using these patterns: ... fehlt/fehlen mir. / Ich vermisse ... .