Learn French: Il a crié, puis il bondit et me coupe le souffle. - He shouted, then he leaps and takes my breath away.

This uses the présent de narration (historical present). Storytellers often establish a past context with the passé composé or imparfait, then suddenly switch to the present tense for the main action. It brings the listener into the moment, making the sudden jump feel much more vivid and surprising.

Wait, isn't bondit also the passé simple (literary past) form? How do we know it's the present tense here?

Great catch! For regular -ir verbs like bondir, the il/elle/on form is indeed bondit in both the present tense and the passé simple. We know it is the present tense here because it is paired with coupe. If it were the passé simple, the second verb would be coupa.

Why is it me coupe le souffle instead of coupe mon souffle?

When talking about body parts or bodily functions (like breath), French avoids possessive adjectives like mon or ma. Instead, you use an indirect object pronoun (me, meaning "to me") and a definite article (le). Literally, this translates to "cuts the breath to me."

If I wanted to tell this story without the dramatic effect, how would I put the whole sentence in the past tense?