In our previous lesson, we learned that rester is a false cognate meaning "to stay/to remain." In this lesson, we will continue to explore the various uses of rester and focus on the impersonal verb il reste (there remains). We will also look at the meaning of le reste (the rest) as a noun.

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The phrase il reste is a bit tricky as it does not necessarily mean "he/it stays." Indeed, the construction il reste is what we call an impersonal verb, as the subject of the sentence (il) doesn’t stand for anything or anyone in particular. Hence the translation of il reste is open to interpretation and will vary. The impersonal pronoun il can be equivalent to "there" in English. In the example below, the construction il reste + noun means "there’s also" in the context of the video:

Et ensuite il reste un dessert en supplément à deux euros soixante

And afterward there's also a dessert for an additional two euros sixty

Caption 10, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: Au Caveau de l'étable à Niederbronn-les-Bains

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In another example, we have the expression ce qu’il en reste, which simply means "what’s left of it." Il is omitted in the translation as it only has a grammatical function in French and is therefore not needed in English:

Ce qu'il en reste.

What remains of it.

Caption 14, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles

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Il reste (there remains) often comes in a negative form, such as il ne reste que... This is a very useful expression to convey that "only x remains":

Maintenant il ne reste que le cadre.

Now only the frame remains.

Another variation of il ne reste que is il ne reste plus que, which means "there remains only":

Du fait de nombreuses fusions,

Because of many mergers,

il ne reste plus qu'une société anonyme de cartes de crédit

there remains only one limited liability credit card company

Caption 15, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones

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Il ne reste plus que can also translate as "all that’s left":

Aujourd'hui, derrière, malheureusement,

Today, behind it, unfortunately,

il ne reste plus qu'un parking.

all that's left is a parking lot.

Caption 25, Voyage en France - Fontainebleau

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And there is yet another way to interpret il ne reste plus que. It can also mean "there is only x left":

Il ne reste plus que cette porte

There is only this door left

Caption 22, Voyage en France - Fontainebleau

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We also have the negative expression il ne reste plus rien, which means "there’s nothing left":

Donne-moi tout, même quand il [ne] reste plus rien

Give it all to me, even when there's nothing left

Caption 1, Corneille - Comme un fils

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What’s more, you can even throw a personal pronoun such as me in the mix. In the example below, we have il ne me reste plus qu’à, which is a complex turn of phrase best translated as "all that remains for me":

Il [ne] me reste plus qu'à vous souhaiter un très bon appétit

All that remains for me to do is wish you a very good appetite

Caption 114, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 3

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Indeed, French speakers often insert a personal pronoun in between il reste, as in il nous reste (we still have). The personal pronoun nous becomes the subject pronoun "we":

Il nous reste encore quelques minutes de cuisson pour le homard.

We still have a few minutes of cooking time left for the lobster.

Caption 15, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 2

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In another video, il ne nous reste plus que translates as "we only have x remaining":

Et là, il [ne] nous reste plus que deux colonnes de marbre

And here we only have two marble columns remaining

Caption 16, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles

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The expression il ne vous reste plus grand-chose (you don’t have much left) works in a similar way. Once again, the personal pronoun (vous) becomes the subject in English: 

Et ça a bien marché puisqu'il [ne] vous reste plus grand-chose.

And business has been good since you don't have that much left.

Caption 52, Arles - Le marché d'Arles

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There are many other ways of using il reste, which you can explore here. All this may seem a bit complicated, but fortunately, when reste is used as a noun, it's much simpler! Le reste is a direct cognate that simply means "the rest":

Tout le reste du temps, je dors là où je suis assise

The rest of the time, I sleep right where I'm sitting

Caption 15, Le Journal - Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe

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However, the plural les restes takes on a new meaning. Now we're talking about "leftovers" or "leftover food":

Bon, souvent parce qu'il y a des restes,

Well, often because there are leftovers,

donc il faut éliminer les restes.

so it's necessary to eliminate the leftovers.

Caption 9, TV Vendée - Fêtes de fin d’année : manger léger et équilibré

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Finally, to be clear, "to rest" in English is NOT rester but se reposer or reposer:

Tu peux admirer le paysage et te reposer.

You can admire the scenery and rest.

Caption 45, Le saviez-vous? - Comment voyager?

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Maintenant, on va la laisser reposer

Now we are going to let it rest

Caption 32, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas

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Now that you have worked so hard, il ne vous reste plus qu’à vous reposer (there is nothing left for you to do but rest)!

In her hit song "Christine," the French artist Christine and the Queens (aka Héloïse Letissier) plays with the phrase tenir debout:

Je ne tiens pas debout

I can't stand up

Caption 7, Christine and the Queens - Christine

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Ça ne tient pas debout

It doesn't hold up

Caption 9, Christine and the Queens - Christine

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The expression in the first caption is se tenir debout, which means "to stand up" (literally, "to hold oneself upright"). Since it's a reflexive expression, there should actually be a me in the caption (Je ne me tiens pas debout), but reflexive pronouns are often dropped in informal speech. 

Without the reflexive pronoun, tenir debout is an idiomatic expression meaning "to hold up" (its literal translation), "to add up," or "to make sense." 

Se mettre debout and se lever are two other common ways of saying "to stand up": 

Donc on se lève et l'effet de surprise les fait s'envoler dans le filet.

So we stand up and the surprise effect makes them fly into the net.

Caption 9, Canal 32 - Les secrets des cailles des blés

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Il s'est mis debout quand je suis entré dans la chambre. 
He stood up when I entered the room. 

These phrases describe the action of standing up, but if you wanted to describe someone who is already standing, you would use the phrase être debout or even just debout by itself: 

Par exemple lui, il était debout, elle, elle était allongée.

For example him, he was standing up, her, she was lying down.

Caption 17, Niko de La Faye - "Visages"

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Debout, une rose à la main

Standing up, a rose in hand

Caption 17, Indila - Love Story

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We can't talk about standing up without also talking about sitting down! There are two expressions for sitting in French: s'asseoir (to sit) and être assis/assise (to be seated): 

Le Jardin du Joli Cœur est un tout petit parc

The Jardin du Joli Cœur is a very small park

où on peut s'asseoir tranquillement.

where you can sit quietly.

Caption 38, Joanna - Son quartier

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Tout le reste du temps, je dors... là où je suis assise.

The rest of the time, I sleep... right where I'm sitting.

Caption 15, Le Journal - Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe

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Thanks for reading! If you have a suggestion for a future lesson topic, feel free to email us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.

An accent, or the lack of one, can sometimes determine the meaning of a French word.

For example, let's take ou, the common conjunction that means "or." After his extensive travel abroad, Chef Rachel Gesbert likes to use exotic ingredients when he returns to France "or" to Europe:

Et quand on revient en France,

And when we return to France,

ou en Europe... on a envie de certains produits.

or to Europe... we feel like mixing certain products.

Captions 27-28, Le Journal - Gourmet en Bretagne

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Ou bien also means "or," plain and simple. Anglophones, seeing the extra word bien, might be tempted to translate ou bien as "or even," or to add some other nuance. But in fact, ou bien is used pretty much interchangeably with ou, as we find in the report on the recent discovery of Saint-Exupéry's lost plane, near Marseilles.

Mais personne ne sait s'il s'agit d'un accident,

But nobody knows whether it's a question of an accident,

d'un suicide,

of a suicide,

ou bien d'un tir ennemi.

or of enemy fire.

Captions 27-28, Le Journal - Saint-Exupéry

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However, when we draw a simple accent grave over the u in ou, we get the adverb où, which is used to indicate "where." Anne Liardet, mother of three, racing solo around the world on the "Vendée Globe," tells us:

J'suis bien, là où je suis...

I'm all right where I am...

Caption 25, Le Journal - Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe

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In their worldwide hit "Senegal Fast Food," Amadou and Mariam, the singing-songwriting duo from Mali, ask:

Dakar, Bamako, Rio de Janeiro

Dakar, Bamako, Rio de Janeiro

Où est le problème, où est la frontière?

Where is the problem, where is the border?

Captions 25-26, Amadou et Mariam - Sénégal Fast Food

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Another meaning of où is "when," indicating time. Notice the way French movie star Agnès Jaoui uses it when talking about dreams and fame:

C'est bien... de rêver, mais y a un moment où

It's good... to dream, but there comes a time when

il faut juste se récupérer soi-même.

you have to go back to who you are.

Captions 32-33, Le Journal - Le rôle de sa vie

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So, there you have it: the short story of ou!

FYI: Keep in mind there are at least two other words that sound exactly the same as ou and où, but have their own unique spellings: une houe is "a hoe," like we use in the garden, and du houx is "holly," the stuff the halls are decked out with come Christmas!