Q:

“Échapper” or “s'échapper”, which is correct in this sentence?

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?

A:

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

