The preposition changes the meaning
manquer
The constructions
Meaning : the absent person is the subject: tu me manques
Tu manques à tes amis.
Do not writeTes amis manquent toi.
Meaning : to lack, to be short of
Ce plat manque de sel.
Meaning : to miss (a train, a chance)
J'ai manqué mon bus ce matin.
Why
Manquer à turns the English sentence round: tu me manques means « I miss you », and the absent person is the subject. Manquer de means to be short of: manquer de temps, d'argent. Manquer quelque chose, direct, means to miss out on. Three meanings, three constructions, and the first is the one everyone gets wrong.
The trap for a Chinese speaker
我想你 puts « I » as the subject. In French it is the other way round: tu me manques, TU is the subject, and me is the person who feels the absence.
Read the full lesson : Relative pronouns dont and où →