Learn Hardcore French: Je garde le reste du gâteau pour demain. - I keep the rest of the cake for tomorrow.

In this sentence, garder means “to keep something for later”, which is very close to “to save” in English. You’re setting the remaining cake aside so you can eat it tomorrow.

Why is the present tense (je garde) used when you’re talking about something happening tomorrow?

French often uses the simple present to express a planned or scheduled future action—especially when you add a time marker like demain. Think of it like saying in English, “I’ll keep the rest of the cake for tomorrow,” but in French the present tense is perfectly natural.

Why do we say le reste instead of just reste? What role does le play?

Le reste is a noun phrase meaning “the rest.” In French, reste alone can be a verb form (“he/she/it remains”), so you need the definite article le to turn it into “the remainder” or “the rest.”

Why is it du gâteau and not de le gâteau?

In French, de + le contracts to du. So le reste du gâteau literally means “the rest of the cake.” Without that contraction it would be ungrammatical.

Could I use something other than pour demain, like à demain or jusqu’à demain?

pour demain indicates purpose or intended use: “for tomorrow.”
à demain simply means “see you tomorrow.” You wouldn’t use it here.
jusqu’à demain emphasizes duration (“until tomorrow”). You could say Je garde le reste du gâteau jusqu’à demain, but pour demain is more common to express “I’m saving it to eat tomorrow.”

Can I replace garder with another verb like conserver?

Yes. Conserver also means “to preserve” or “to keep (fresh),” and it’s often used for food. So Je conserve le reste du gâteau pour demain is perfectly correct—just a bit more formal.

Is there another way to say le reste?

You could say la partie restante or la portion restante, but le reste is the simplest and most idiomatic way to refer to “the rest.”