Word
Nous avions peur, alors le chien bondit et se précipite sur l'intrus.
Meaning
We were afraid, so the dog leaps and rushes at the intruder.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Nous avions peur, alors le chien bondit et se précipite sur l'intrus.
le chien
the dog
sur
on
et
and
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Nous avions peur, alors le chien bondit et se précipite sur l'intrus.
Why does the sentence start in the past (avions) but end in the present (bondit, se précipite)?
This is the présent de narration (historical present) in action! French storytellers often set the background scene using a past tense like the imparfait (Nous avions peur) and then suddenly switch to the present tense for the main events (le chien bondit et se précipite). This makes the sudden action feel much more vivid, as if you are watching it happen right now.
Wait, is bondit in the present tense or the passé simple here?
It is the present tense, but it's a great catch! For regular -ir verbs like bondir, the il/elle/on conjugation is exactly the same in the present and the passé simple (il bondit). However, because it is paired with se précipite, which is definitely present tense, we know bondit is also functioning as the present here to keep the sentence parallel.
Why use the imparfait (avions) for "we were afraid" instead of a completed past tense?
Why use sur in se précipite sur l'intrus? Doesn't sur usually mean "on"?