to escape; to flee; to quickly (and secretly) move away from danger; to avoid something unpleasant, to steer clear of it
Building blocks
põgene- - "flee" or "escape"
-ma - infinitive ending
When combined, it refers to the act of running away from a situation, often to avoid danger or unpleasantness.
How to use it
Escaping from Danger or Risk:
Loomad põgenevad jahimeeste eest.
Translation: The animals flee from the hunters.
Avoiding Unpleasant Situations:
Mul on tööst kõrini, tahaks kuskile saarele põgeneda.
Translation: I'm fed up with work; I want to escape to an island.
What to remember when using the verb “põgenema”:
The place you are escaping from is in the Elative case (ending-st)
Whom or What you are escaping from is in the Genitive Case + you add the word eest (from)
See these in use ⬇️
Examples
Põgenesin suhtest, mis mind õnnetuks tegi
Literally: “Escaped relationship-from which me unhappy made”
Idiomatically: “I escaped from a relationship that made me unhappy”
Põgenesin - Verb - 1P Past Sg, "I escaped"
suhtest - Noun - Elative Sg, "from a relationship"
mis - Pronoun - Nomiantive Sg, "which"
mind - Pronoun - Partitive Sg, "me"
õnnetuks - Adjective - Translative Sg, "unhappy"
tegi - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "made"
Pere põgenes sombuse Eesti ilma eest Portugali
Literally: “Family escaped gloomy Estonian weather from Portugal-to”
Idiomatically: “The family escaped from the gloomy Estonian weather to Portugal”
Pere - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Family"
põgenes - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "escaped"
sombuse - Adjective - Genitive Sg, "gloomy"
Eesti - Noun - Genitive Sg, "Estonian"
ilma - Noun - Genitive Sg, "weather"
eest - Postposition - Indeclinable, "from"
Portugali - Noun - Illative Sg, "to Portugal"