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I have a two part question: 1) My sentence is

I escape the lion.

Do I say

Je èchappe le lion

or

Je s'echapper du lion

or neither?

2) I see other verbs that are otherwise identical but one will have a s' before them. My grammar book does not explain what the purpose of the s' is. Could someone explain this to me or direct me to a resource online?

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  • A quick search for s' before verb french on Google gives an appropriate answer for (2).
    – Maroon
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 23:29
  • Thank you. I tried googling it but I did not think to try that phrase. It turned up many useful guides!
    – Lucille
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 23:47
  • This question & answers about reflexive verbs might help you.
    – None
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 6:37
  • You should never use an infinitive after a subject ! (Je s'echapper) Use "s'échapper" only when it's alone, it's what this form is about, never after a subject.
    – Teleporting Goat
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 16:08

1 Answer 1

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A correct answer with "échapper" is:

J'échappe au lion.

Together with a person/object, you says "j'échappe à/au".

The form "je m'échappe du/de" is used together with a location:

Je m'échappe de la prison.

Je m'échappe du pays.

Last but not least, you can also use the verb "fuir", which is used the same way with locations or persons:

Je fuis le lion.

Je fuis la prison.

For your second question, see: https://french.stackexchange.com/a/4594/11668

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