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« Il fallait fuir ! » s'écrient-ils.

« Il fallait fuir ! » s'écrient-ils.
"It was necessary to flee!" they cry out.
From Lesson 389:Subject inversion in reporting clauses (dit-il)·French

Questions & Answers about « Il fallait fuir ! » s'écrient-ils.

Why is the subject inverted in s'écrient-ils?
This is a reporting clause (an incise), which tells us who is speaking. In French, you must invert the subject and verb in these clauses when they appear after or in the middle of a direct quote. While English often keeps the standard order ('they cry out'), French flips it to s'écrient-ils.
How does subject inversion work with a reflexive verb like s'écrier?
The reflexive pronoun (here, s' for se) stays anchored to the front of the verb. Only the subject pronoun (ils) moves to the end and attaches with a hyphen. You never move the reflexive pronoun to the end, so it correctly becomes s'écrient-ils.
Why use the imperfect fallait instead of the passé composé a fallu?
The imperfect fallait describes an ongoing past state or condition, translating to 'it was necessary.' The passé composé (a fallu) would imply a sudden, completed necessity. In a dramatic recount of a past situation, the descriptive imperfect fits naturally.
Who exactly is fleeing here, and why use il fallait instead of a plural subject?
The verb falloir (to be necessary) is impersonal and only ever takes the pronoun il. Il fallait fuir means 'it was necessary to flee' in a general sense, applying to whoever was there. To explicitly say 'they had to flee,' you would need the verb devoir (ils devaient fuir) or a subjunctive clause (il fallait qu'ils fuient).

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