What does stalling actually do?

[realazy]

I was just wondering when you stall a manual car, what actually happens? Does it do harm to the engine?

[arian_ma]

More the transmition than the engine I'd say.
You let go of the clutch too fast, the the clutch tries to spin at the same speed as the engine, the wheels have too much friction with the ground, clutch doesn't slip, something has to give, so the engine (which is at low revs) stalls.

[handsomebassman]

The way i see it, if you have a manual car, and you are letting someone learn how to drive stick in it, them stalling a few times will not hurt your ride.:)