Échappezvous

Échappez-vous is the second-person plural or formal imperative form of the pronominal French verb s'échapper, meaning to escape or to get away. The reflexive pronoun vous is attached to the command, yielding a literal translation along the lines of “escape yourselves” or, more idiomatically, “get away.” It is used to urge a group to flee danger or to free themselves from a constraining situation. The corresponding forms for other subjects are échappe-toi (tu) and échappons-nous (nous).

In usage, échappez-vous appears in everyday speech, emergency dialogue, and narrative writing. It can function as a direct command in urgent moments, or be employed more broadly in headlines, slogans, or calls to action that evoke the idea of escaping or breaking free. The diacritic acute accent on é is standard: échappez-vous.

The phrase is related to, but distinct from, related terms such as s'échapper (to escape), échappé (past participle or a ballet term meaning “escaped” and used as a noun or in phrases such as échappé battu), and échappement (escape or exhaust system, depending on context). While échappez-vous can appear in cultural or media contexts as a quotation or title fragment, it remains primarily a grammatical construction rather than a fixed concept or entity.

Examples:

- Échappez-vous, vite! (Escape yourselves, quickly!)

- Échappez-vous de la pièce par la porte arrière. (Escape the room through the back door.)

See also: s'échapper, échappé, échappement.