Sometimes, the meaning of a French word is easy to guess when it looks similar to an English word. However, for every cognate, there are just as many false cognates. And yet, il en reste encore beaucoup (there are still many more) that are worthy of our attention. In this lesson, we will look at the word rester, which—you guessed it—is un faux ami (a false cognate) and doesn’t mean “to rest." So what does it really mean? 

The basic meaning of rester is “to stay/to remain.” In the example below, it means “to stay put”: 

Bouge pas de là, Léon. Tu restes ici!

Do not move from here, Leon. You stay here!

Caption 5, Les zooriginaux - 3 Qui suis-je?

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A more forceful variation of Tu restes ici! is the idiomatic expression Reste tranquille! (Keep still!), which is often used to control restless children:

Restez tranquilles, les enfants!

Keep still, children!

You can also use rester (to stay) for all sorts of situations, as in rester en contact (to stay in contact):

Par ailleurs, Manon est restée en contact avec Émilie.

Moreover, Manon stayed in contact with Émilie.

Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...

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Rester also means "to remain,” as we mentioned earlier. The tour guide at Joan of Arc's house uses rester to tell us where Joan’s family lived for a long time:

Mais le principal de sa famille est effectivement restée en Lorraine.

But the majority of her family indeed remained in Lorraine.

Caption 56, Lionel - La maison de Jeanne d'Arc

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It’s important to note that rester is one of the few verbs that require the auxiliary être (to be) in the passé composé. Patricia discusses this in a video on the subject:

Et comme tu es resté(e) concentré(e) depuis toutes ces leçons

And since you've remained focused for all these lessons

Caption 5, Le saviez-vous? - Exception dans les verbes du 1er groupe au passé composé

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Rester is also used in the present tense, of course. For example, we have the expression ça reste (that remains). In the example below, ça (that) becomes redundant in English and is therefore omitted: 

Ouais, très bonne question.

Yeah, very good question.

Donc, le plat du jour c'est sûr, ça reste un produit d'appel.

So the daily special certainly remains a promotional product.

Caption 17, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: Au Caveau de l'étable à Niederbronn-les-Bains

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Ça reste sometimes means “it's/these are still”:

Rappeler effectivement aux gens que ça reste des produits de confiserie, c'est pas une mauvaise mesure

Indeed, to remind people that these are still sweets, it's not a bad idea

Caption 14, Le Journal - Publicité anti-calories

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On a l'impression d'être secoué, mais ça reste très agréable.

You have the feeling of being shaken, but it's still very pleasant.

Caption 16, À la plage avec Lionel - La plage

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Il reste encore (there is still) the expression il reste (there remains), which we will discuss in a future lesson. Merci d’être resté(e) concentré(e) pendant toute cette leçon (thank you for staying focused throughout this lesson)!

There are two ways of saying "finally" in French: finalement and enfin. Though they have the same translation and are often used interchangeably in casual speech, these two words aren't exactly synonymous. There's a subtle difference between them that's illustrated in these two examples:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Le grand jour est enfin arrivé.

The big day finally arrived.

Caption 28, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés... - Part 7

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Au début... j'étais braquée. J'avais pas envie.

In the beginning... I was dead against it. I didn't want to.

Puis finalement j'ai compris que c'était pour mon bien.

Then finally I understood that it was for my own good.

Captions 6-7, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés... - Part 8

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When you say that something has finally arrived, you're implying that you've been expecting it to arrive for a while. But if you finally understand that something is for your own good after being dead against it, you're implying that you didn't expect to have this reversal of opinion. This is the fundamental difference between enfin and finalement: while enfin describes a foreseeable outcome, finalement describes an unforeseeable one. 

Let's look at another example. If you say to someone, je suis enchanté(e) de vous rencontrer enfin (I'm glad to finally meet you), you're saying that you've been wanting to meet them for a long time. But if you say, je suis enchanté(e) de vous rencontrer finalement, you're giving the impression that you didn't really want to meet the person at first, but now you're happy that you did. Which is to say that you shouldn't use finalement in this case, unless you want to hurt their feelings! 

Finalement can also mean "in the end," which also has the sense of something not turning out as expected: 

Alors demain, finalement, on ira pas au château.

So tomorrow, in the end, we won't go to the castle.

Caption 55, Le Mans TV - Mon Village - Malicorne

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Another way of translating that caption would be, "So tomorrow we won't go to the castle after all."

Enfin is used very often in informal speech as a sort of filler word that can mean anything from "well" to "I mean" to "in any case": 

Il y en a eu tant que ça?

Have there been that many?

Oui, enfin, non, euh... quelques-uns, quoi.

Yes, well [or "I mean"], no, uh... a few, you know.

Captions 37-38, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté - Part 2

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...où nous sommes au métro Jaurès,

...where we are at the Jaurès subway stop,

enfin, où Paris-Plage

in any case, where "Paris-Plage" [Paris Beach]

a accès à l'eau.

has access to the water.

Captions 2-3, Lionel L - Paris-Plage

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Enfin can also come in handy when expressing impatience or frustration:

Mais enfin, relève-toi!

Come on, stand up!

Caption 2, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 15. Bruce et les sources du Nil

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Cette leçon est enfin terminée! (This lesson is finally over!) Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.