The simple but unhelpful answer is "Because it does!" Unfortunately for you as a beginner, this short sentence contains a combination of two constructions and a word order which are all completely different from their English counterparts. Let me deconstruct it for you: The core construction is the impersonal phrase 'Il reste x', which literally means 'There remains x' ( or 'x remains.) If you add the indirect pronoun 'nous', you get 'Il nous reste x'. Literally, this means 'There remains x to us', or - in normal English - "We have x left". Next you need to wrap the phrase 'ne ...que', meaning 'only', around the sentence. The 'ne' goes before the verb and the 'que' goes before the object, making 'Il ne nous reste que...'. The whole sentence means 'We only have x left'. A word of advice - you need to approach French, or any other language you might subsequently learn, with an open mind. Don't expect French vocabulary or grammar to correspond exactly to the equivalent things in English. There are similarities ( after all, a third of English vocabulary comes from the same root as French, either directly or through Latin, plus hundreds of later international and loan words) but there are also a lot of differences, particularly in terms of grammar and syntax.

Bonjour Cheryl, To add something to Su Ki's very clear answer, try to get use to "ne... que" "Ne.... que" in French means ""only" in English. Exemples : J'ai une pomme = I have an apple / Je n'ai qu'une pomme = I only have an apple Il y a une pomme = there is an apple / Il n'y a qu'une pomme = there is only an apple Try also to get used to indirect object/indirect pronoun: Je parle à Jason = I am speaking to Jason Je lui parle = I am to him speaking Jason me parle = Jason to me is speaking Bon travail ! Cordialement, Carine.