Learn Hardcore French: Après la séance, un petit groupe reste pour organiser un futur débat dans une autre faculté. - After the session, a small group stays to organize a future debate in another faculty.

un petit groupe reste = a small group stays / remains
Even though the group contains several people, in French the word groupe is grammatically singular, so you use the 3rd person singular: il reste.

Using restent would be correct only if the subject were plural, e.g.:

Quelques étudiants restent… → Some students stay…
Ils restent… → They stay…

Why is the present tense reste used if they are staying after the session?

French often uses the present tense to narrate events that happen in sequence, even future ones, when you’re describing a typical situation or a planned schedule.

Here it’s like narrating a scene:

Après la séance, un petit groupe reste…
Literally: After the session, a small group stays…
Natural English: After the session, a small group stays behind…

You could also say:

Après la séance, un petit groupe restera… (will stay)

…but that would sound more like a specific prediction about the future. The present reste can describe a habitual or scheduled action, or a moment you’re narrating as if it’s happening now.

What exactly does séance mean here? Is it like “session”, “class”, or “show”?

Séance is a flexible word. Its meaning depends on context:

In a cinema/theatre context: une séance de cinéma = a screening/showing.
In an academic or meeting context: une séance = a session, meeting, or sitting.

Here, since the sentence mentions faculté (university faculty), séance probably refers to:

a class session,
a seminar/workshop,
or a meeting.

So Après la séance is best understood as After the session / After the meeting / After the class, depending on context.

What does un petit groupe imply? Is petit literal (small in size) or more like “a few people”?

Both ideas overlap here:

un petit groupe can literally mean a group that is small in number.
It usually implies a few people / a small number of participants.

The nuance is less about physical size and more about how many people there are. It doesn’t have any emotional value judgment; it’s neutral.

Why does petit come before groupe? I thought French adjectives usually go after the noun.

Most adjectives in French do come after the noun, but there is a common group that usually comes before. A common memory tool is BANGS (or BAGS) for:

Beauty (beau, joli)
Age / Newness (jeune, vieux, nouveau…)
Goodness (bon, mauvais…)
Size (grand, petit, gros…)

Petit is a size adjective, so it usually comes before:

un petit groupe
une petite maison

Many other adjectives (e.g. intéressant, difficile, français) typically follow the noun:

un groupe intéressant
une séance difficile

Does reste here mean “stays” or “stays behind”? Do you need to say reste derrière?

Rester by itself usually covers the idea of staying / remaining somewhere / staying behind.

In this context:

un petit groupe reste naturally means a small group stays behind (doesn’t leave with the others).

You usually don’t need derrière unless you really want to emphasize the physical idea of being behind:

Ils restent derrière nous. = They stay behind us (physically, in position).

But for “some people stay after everyone else leaves”, rester alone is enough.

Why is it pour organiser and not something like pour qu’ils organisent?

Both structures exist, but they mean slightly different things and follow different grammar patterns:

pour + infinitive (same subject or implied subject):
- reste pour organiser…
  Literally: stays in order to organize…
  The subject of reste and the (unspoken) subject of organiser is the same group.
pour que + subjunctive (different explicit subject):
- reste pour que d’autres personnes puissent organiser…
  stays so that other people can organize…

Here, the group itself is staying in order to organize something, so pour + infinitive is correct and natural.

Why do we say un futur débat instead of just un débat? Is futur common as an adjective?

Futur as an adjective means future, upcoming. It emphasizes that the debate has not yet taken place; it’s going to happen later.

un débat = a debate (no detail about when)
un futur débat = a debate that will take place in the future

In many real contexts, French speakers might just say:

pour organiser un débat (and the future timing is understood from context)

Using futur makes the “future” aspect explicit or slightly more formal/technical, but it isn’t wrong or unusual.

Could you also say un débat à venir or un débat futur? Are these the same as un futur débat?

They’re close in meaning but differ slightly in style:

un futur débat: quite neutral, common, especially in written or semi-formal language.
un débat à venir: an upcoming debate; a bit more descriptive or stylistic.
un débat futur: grammatically possible but less common and can sound more formal, abstract, or technical. Often seen in legal or academic language.

In everyday French, un futur débat or simply un débat (with the future inferred from organiser) would be more typical.

What exactly does faculté mean here? Is it the same as “faculty” in English?

Not exactly. La faculté in a university context is close to:

a faculty or school within a university:
- la faculté de droit = the law school/faculty
- la faculté de lettres = the arts/humanities faculty

So dans une autre faculté means in another faculty / in another department or school (of a university).

In everyday speech, French people also say la fac (informal) for university in general:

Je suis à la fac. = I’m at uni.

Why is it dans une autre faculté and not à une autre faculté?

Both dans and à can be used with places, but the nuance is slightly different:

dans une autre faculté emphasizes inside another faculty / within that institution.
à une autre faculté emphasizes the location (at another faculty), and can also sound a bit like “at another uni”.

In practice, both can be heard:

organiser un débat dans une autre faculté
organiser un débat à une autre faculté

The sentence with dans is focusing more on the setting taking place within some other faculty’s premises.

Why is it une autre faculté and not l’autre faculté?

une autre faculté = another faculty (unspecified which one; just different from the current one)
l’autre faculté = the other faculty (there are essentially two options, and you mean the second one in particular)

Here, the idea is “in some other faculty (not this one)”, without specifying which, so une autre faculté is appropriate.

Why is there a comma after Après la séance? Could the order be reversed?

Yes, you can reverse the order, and the comma is normal:

Après la séance, un petit groupe reste…
Un petit groupe reste après la séance pour organiser…

In French, when a time expression like Après la séance, Demain, Le soir, etc. is placed at the beginning of the sentence, it’s usually followed by a comma. If you move it after the verb and subject, you typically don’t use a comma.