3

In the sentence" il me reste des croissants du weekend". Why isn't it " ils me restent...". Is it a set phrase? Thanks

Improve this question
1
1

As you put it, this is a set phrase (une tournure impersonnelle). The personal pronoun "il" does not stand for anything: français facile.

(TLFi) II être encore présent, disponible; subsister
           B. − [En empl. impers., le suj. réel désigne un animé ou un inanimé concr. ou abstr.]

  1. Il reste (+ subst.).
    ♦ Quand les aunes eurent disparu, il restait les souches (Hémon, M. Chapdelaine, 1916, p. 63).
    ♦ L'Europe était alors [au temps de Montesquieu] le meilleur des mondes possibles (...). La science était déjà assez belle, et les arts très délicats; il restait de la religion (Valéry, Variété II, 1929, p. 63).
    ♦ Il reste les autres: les fidèles qui demeurent à mi-côte, qui luttent, succombent, se relèvent (Mauriac, Journal 2, 1937, p. 189).
Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    It's misleading to call this a fixed phrase; the rule is entirely generalizable. – Luke Sawczak♦ Oct 15 '20 at 19:30
  • @LukeSawczak I can't figure out what you apply "entirely generalizable" to; you mean perhaps that you can conjugate these verbs ( "il existe", "il est", "il faut", …). Yes you can do that for those verbs, but those impersonal turns are nevertheless fixed to an important degree, even if we can't see in them perfectly fixed expressions: the subject is only "il", no other pronoun will do, no noun is usable as subject, the meaning is not derived from the words (semantically fixed), for instance. – LPH Oct 15 '20 at 23:23
  • @LukeSawczak Here is a source that uses this very term as an identifying term for certain impersonal constructions of this sort: bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwh6tfr/revision/2. – LPH Oct 15 '20 at 23:24
  • When you said "fixed" I understood it as saying that "il reste" is a fixed expression, whereas this syntax is a general one for many verb types. If you meant that this syntax only works with "il" and no other pronouns, yes, that's true. – Luke Sawczak♦ Oct 16 '20 at 2:06
7

Here, rester is used in an impersonal form.

That means the pronoun il (only third person singular allowed) is just a place holder and doesn't represent anything, like in il pleut (it's raining).

Improve this answer
1
  • Merci beaucoup de m'aider avec ma première question. Je crois que je me souviens un peu l'utilisatin de cette phrase. – Bluelion7 Oct 13 '20 at 21:30
5

As others have already answered, it's an impersonal form. You might like to note a few others which behave in a very similar way:

  • il existe plusieurs solutions (several solutions exist)
  • il suffit de trois semaines pour finir le projet (three weeks is enough to finish the project)
  • il arrive parfois des choses étranges (strange things happen sometimes)
  • il en résulte deux conséquences (there are two consequences of this)
Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    A possible translation of "strange things are happening": "il se passe des choses étranges" – LPH Oct 14 '20 at 17:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.