Rester Conjugation in French
rester means “to stay” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 35 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about staying at home this evening, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of rester — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je reste à la maison ce soir tous les jours.” — “I stay at home this evening every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: rester
- English: to stay
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: restant
- Past participle: resté
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for rester, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read rester in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about rester
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use être: the present perfect is formed with être in the present plus the past participle resté. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is restant and the participle is resté: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for rester. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reste |
| tu | restes |
| il/elle | reste |
| nous | restons |
| vous | restez |
| ils/elles | restent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je reste à Paris une semaine tous les jours.” — “I stay in Paris for a week every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | restai |
| tu | restas |
| il/elle | resta |
| nous | restâmes |
| vous | restâtes |
| ils/elles | restèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu restas à Paris une semaine hier.” — “You stayed in Paris for a week yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | restais |
| tu | restais |
| il/elle | restait |
| nous | restions |
| vous | restiez |
| ils/elles | restaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il restait à Paris une semaine autrefois.” — “He used to stay in Paris for a week in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | resterai |
| tu | resteras |
| il/elle | restera |
| nous | resterons |
| vous | resterez |
| ils/elles | resteront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je resterai à Paris une semaine demain.” — “I will stay in Paris for a week tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | resterais |
| tu | resterais |
| il/elle | resterait |
| nous | resterions |
| vous | resteriez |
| ils/elles | resteraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu resterais à Paris une semaine un jour.” — “You would stay in Paris for a week one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis resté |
| tu | es resté |
| il/elle | est resté |
| nous | sommes resté |
| vous | êtes resté |
| ils/elles | sont resté |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il est resté à Paris une semaine cette semaine.” — “He has stayed in Paris for a week this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais resté |
| tu | étais resté |
| il/elle | était resté |
| nous | étions resté |
| vous | étiez resté |
| ils/elles | étaient resté |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'étais resté à Paris une semaine avant la fête.” — “I had stayed in Paris for a week before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai resté |
| tu | seras resté |
| il/elle | sera resté |
| nous | serons resté |
| vous | serez resté |
| ils/elles | seront resté |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu seras resté à Paris une semaine pour demain.” — “You will have stayed in Paris for a week by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais resté |
| tu | serais resté |
| il/elle | serait resté |
| nous | serions resté |
| vous | seriez resté |
| ils/elles | seraient resté |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il serait resté à Paris une semaine hier.” — “He would have stayed in Paris for a week yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reste |
| tu | restes |
| il/elle | reste |
| nous | restions |
| vous | restiez |
| ils/elles | restent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je reste à Paris une semaine.” — “It is important that I stay in Paris for a week.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | restasse |
| tu | restasses |
| il/elle | restât |
| nous | restassions |
| vous | restassiez |
| ils/elles | restassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu restasses à Paris une semaine.” — “It is important that you stay in Paris for a week.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | reste |
| nous | restons |
| vous | restez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Reste à Paris une semaine !” — “Stay in Paris for a week!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | reste |
| nous | restons |
| vous | restez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne reste pas à Paris une semaine.” — “Do not stay in Paris for a week.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en restant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En restant à la maison ce soir, je passe un bon moment.” — “While staying at home this evening, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | resté |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Je suis resté à la maison ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have stayed at home this evening this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with rester, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je reste à la maison ce soir tous les jours.” — “I stay at home this evening every day.”
- “Tu restas à Paris une semaine hier.” — “You stayed in Paris for a week yesterday.”
- “Il restait avec mes amis demain autrefois.” — “He used to stay with my friends tomorrow in the past.”
- “Je resterai à la maison ce soir demain.” — “I will stay at home this evening tomorrow.”
- “Tu resterais à Paris une semaine un jour.” — “You would stay in Paris for a week one day.”
- “Il est resté avec mes amis demain cette semaine.” — “He has stayed with my friends tomorrow this week.”
- “J'étais resté à la maison ce soir avant la fête.” — “I had stayed at home this evening before the party.”
- “Tu seras resté à Paris une semaine pour demain.” — “You will have stayed in Paris for a week by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il reste avec mes amis demain.” — “It is important that he stay with my friends tomorrow.”
- “Reste à la maison ce soir !” — “Stay at home this evening!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je rester à la maison ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je reste à la maison ce soir.”
The infinitive rester never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form reste.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je restent à la maison ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je reste à la maison ce soir.”
restent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with reste.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je restai à la maison ce soir tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je reste à la maison ce soir tous les jours.”
The passé simple restai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present reste.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je reste à la maison ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je reste à la maison ce soir.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use reste here, not the indicative reste.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je ai resté à la maison ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je suis resté à la maison ce soir.”
The passé composé of rester is formed with être plus the past participle resté: the je form is suis resté. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “reste” written without its accent
✓ Right: “reste”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on rester. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of rester in the Present indicative?
- A) restez
- B) reste
- C) restes
- D) restons
What is the il/elle form of rester in the Passé simple?
- A) restâmes
- B) resta
- C) restai
- D) restas
What is the nous form of rester in the Imperfect?
- A) restiez
- B) restions
- C) restais
- D) restait
What is the tu form of rester in the Future?
- A) resterai
- B) restera
- C) resterons
- D) resteras
What is the je form of rester in the Conditional?
- A) resterions
- B) resteriez
- C) resterais
- D) resterait
What is the il/elle form of rester in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sommes resté
- B) est resté
- C) suis resté
- D) es resté
What is the il/elle form of rester in the Present subjunctive?
- A) restiez
- B) reste
- C) restes
- D) restions
What is the je form of rester in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) restât
- B) restassions
- C) restasse
- D) restasses
What is the gerund of rester?
- A) en restant
- B) en arrivant
- C) en entendant
- D) en sortant
What does rester mean in English?
- A) to stay
- B) to arrive
- C) to hear
- D) to go out
Answer key
- B) reste — the je form of rester in the Present indicative is reste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) resta — the il/elle form of rester in the Passé simple is resta. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) restions — the nous form of rester in the Imperfect is restions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) resteras — the tu form of rester in the Future is resteras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) resterais — the je form of rester in the Conditional is resterais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) est resté — the il/elle form of rester in the Present perfect (passé composé) is est resté. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) reste — the il/elle form of rester in the Present subjunctive is reste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) restasse — the je form of rester in the Imperfect subjunctive is restasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en restant — the gerund of rester is en restant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to stay — rester means “to stay” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does rester mean in English?
rester means “to stay”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is rester regular or irregular?
rester is regular: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is restant and the past participle is resté.
What are the gerund and past participle of rester?
The gerund is restant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is resté — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis resté.
Which auxiliary does rester take in the passé composé?
rester takes être in the passé composé: the je form is suis resté. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with être plus the past participle resté.
How do I say “I stay” in French?
Say “Je reste à la maison ce soir tous les jours.” — “I stay at home this evening every day.” The je form of the present is reste, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of rester — every tense of rester in one place.
- Rester in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Rester examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Arriver conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Entendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Sortir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — practise rester with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise rester with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise rester with the interactive tool.