Learn Hardcore French: Les habitants de la ville se reposent dans le parc. - The inhabitants of the city rest in the park.

les habitants de la ville = the people who live in that city (its residents)
les gens = people in general
les personnes = persons/individuals (more formal, often counted: trois personnes)

So les habitants de la ville emphasizes that they belong to / live in the city, not just any random people.

Is habitant masculine or feminine, and how do I make it plural?

Habitant has both a masculine and a feminine form:

singular:
- un habitant (masculine)
- une habitante (feminine)
plural:
- des habitants (masc. or mixed group)
- des habitantes (all female)

In les habitants de la ville, habitants is masculine plural (or mixed group), and les is the plural definite article “the.”

Why is it de la ville and not de ville?

In French, you usually need an article after de when you mean “of the …”:

de + la ville → de la ville = of the city

De ville on its own would sound incomplete or wrong here.
Compare:

les habitants de la ville = the inhabitants of the city (a specific city)
l’air de la ville = the air of the city
les habitants de Paris = the inhabitants of Paris (no article because Paris is a proper name)

So de la = of the with a feminine singular noun like ville.

Why is there a se before reposent? Can’t we just say les habitants reposent?

Se reposer is a reflexive verb that means “to rest” (oneself).

se reposer = to rest, to have a rest
reposer (without se) usually means to put something down / to put something back / to rest something on something:
- Je repose le livre. = I put the book down.

So to say that people themselves are resting, you must use the reflexive form:

Les habitants se reposent. ✅
Les habitants reposent. ❌ (sounds wrong unless you add an object: Les habitants reposent les valises.)

What exactly does se reposer mean? Does it always mean “to sleep”?

Se reposer means to rest, to take a break, to relax physically or mentally.

It does not necessarily mean to sleep:

se reposer = to rest (sit down, lie down, stop working, relax)
dormir = to sleep

Examples:

Je vais me reposer un peu. = I’m going to rest a bit. (not necessarily sleep)
Je vais dormir. = I’m going to sleep.

In your sentence, se reposent dans le parc suggests they are taking a rest in the park, not specifically sleeping.

How do you conjugate se reposer in the present tense?

Se reposer in the present indicative:

je me repose – I rest
tu te reposes – you rest (singular, informal)
il / elle / on se repose – he/she/one rests
nous nous reposons – we rest
vous vous reposez – you rest (plural or formal)
ils / elles se reposent – they rest

In the sentence Les habitants de la ville se reposent, the subject is ils (they), so you use se reposent.

How would you make this sentence negative?

You put ne … pas around the reflexive pronoun + verb:

Les habitants de la ville ne se reposent pas dans le parc.
= The inhabitants of the city are not resting in the park.

Structure:

ne
- se
  - reposent
    - pas

Spoken French often drops ne:

Les habitants de la ville se reposent pas dans le parc. (very common in conversation)

Why do we say dans le parc here instead of au parc?

Both are possible, but they don’t feel exactly the same:

dans le parc = inside the park, physically in the park area
au parc = at the park / to the park, more general location or destination

In your sentence:

se reposent dans le parc emphasizes that they are resting inside the park (within its grounds). If you said:
Les habitants de la ville se reposent au parc.
it would be understood, but dans le parc paints a clearer picture of them being inside the park.

Why is it le parc and not un parc or des parcs?

Le parc uses the definite article le = “the” (masculine singular).

le parc = the park (a specific park, known in context)
un parc = a park (any park, not specified)
des parcs = parks (plural)

In dans le parc, we understand that this is the city’s park, or a specific park known to the speaker and listener, so le is natural.

Can dans le parc go at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes, you can move the place expression to the beginning for emphasis or style:

Dans le parc, les habitants de la ville se reposent.

This is correct and sounds a bit more literary or descriptive.
Word order patterns:

neutral: Les habitants de la ville se reposent dans le parc.
fronted location: Dans le parc, les habitants de la ville se reposent.

You cannot break se reposent apart; the reflexive pronoun must stay right before the verb.

How do you pronounce les habitants and se reposent? Are any letters silent?

Key points:

les habitants
- Pronounced roughly: lé za-bi-tan
- There is a liaison: les
  - habitants → [lé-za-bi-tan] (the s of les sounds like z)
- The final -s of habitants is silent.
se reposent
- Pronounced roughly: sə rə-poz
- Final -ent in reposent is silent in the present tense; it just marks plural in writing.
- The se is usually a weak sə sound.
ville
- Pronounced: veel (the final -e is silent, but the ll is like English l).

How would you say “The inhabitants of the city were resting in the park” in French?

Most natural: use the imparfait of se reposer:

Les habitants de la ville se reposaient dans le parc.
= The inhabitants of the city were resting in the park / used to rest in the park.

You could also say, to insist on the ongoing action at that precise moment:

Les habitants de la ville étaient en train de se reposer dans le parc.
= They were in the middle of resting in the park.