Learn French: Nous restons à la plage toute la journée.

Nous restons à la plage toute la journée.

We stay at the beach all day.

Breakdown of Nous restons à la plage toute la journée.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

la plage

the beach

at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)

rester

to stay

Questions & Answers about Nous restons à la plage toute la journée.

Why is it toute la here instead of just tout?

Because journée (day) is a feminine singular noun, so tout changes to its feminine form, toute. In French, when you say 'all day' or 'the whole day', you must include the definite article la between the adjective toute and the noun.

Why use journée instead of jour for 'day'?

French has two words for day. You use jour for a simple unit of time, like when counting (three days). You use journée when you want to emphasize the duration or experience of the day from start to finish. Since 'all day' focuses on the length of time, we use toute la journée.

I thought rester meant 'to rest'. Why is it translated as 'stay'?

rester is a classic 'false friend'. It looks like the English word 'rest', but it actually means 'to stay'. If you want to say 'to rest' in French, you would use the verb se reposer.

Could I say sur la plage instead of à la plage?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly. à la plage is used for the general location (at the beach), which is the most natural choice here. sur la plage means you are physically standing or lying on the sand.