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Repose-toi près de la bougie.

Repose-toi près de la bougie.
Rest near the candle.
From Lesson 114:Commands with reflexive pronouns (lève-toi)·French

Questions & Answers about Repose-toi près de la bougie.

Why is it Repose-toi with a hyphen instead of using te before the verb?
In French, when you give an affirmative command (telling someone to do something), the reflexive pronoun moves to the end of the verb and is attached with a hyphen. When this happens, the normal pronoun te changes to its stressed form, toi.
Since this is the tu (informal 'you') form, shouldn't repose end in an -s?
Normally, yes! The standard present tense is tu te reposes. However, when making commands (the imperative mood), regular -er verbs drop that final -s for the tu form. So, it becomes repose-toi.
Why do we need the reflexive -toi here? Can't I just say Repose près de la bougie?
You need the pronoun because the verb for 'to rest' (to relax) is the reflexive verb se reposer. If you use reposer on its own without a reflexive pronoun, it means 'to put back' or 'to place' an object.
I see près de used here for 'near'. Can I just say près la bougie?
No, you need the de. In French, 'near' is a two-word prepositional phrase: près de. The de is mandatory before the noun you are near.

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