He pakenivat tulta.

No. Finnish he means they.

A few useful comparisons:

• hän = he / she (singular person)
• he = they (plural people)

So in this sentence, He pakenivat tulta, He is the plural subject: they.

It is only capitalized because it is the first word of the sentence.

The dictionary form is paeta, meaning to flee, to escape, or to run away from.

So:

• paeta = to flee
• pakenivat = they fled / they were fleeing

This is one of those verbs where the stem changes a bit when it is conjugated, so the forms are not built from pae- in a very transparent way.

Pakenivat is the past tense, 3rd person plural form of paeta.

Breakdown:

• paeta = infinitive
• pakeni- = past stem
• -vat = 3rd person plural ending

So:

• hän pakeni = he/she fled
• he pakenivat = they fled

A useful comparison with the present tense:

• he pakenevat = they flee / they are fleeing
• he pakenivat = they fled / they were fleeing

So the sentence uses a normal past-tense plural verb form in standard Finnish.

Because in standard Finnish, the verb agrees with the subject.

Here the subject is he = they, so the verb must also be plural:

• hän pakeni = he/she fled
• he pakenivat = they fled

This subject-verb agreement is an important part of standard written Finnish.

In everyday spoken Finnish, you may often hear simpler patterns, but he pakenivat is the standard written form.

Because tulta is the partitive singular form of tuli (fire).

The noun forms are:

• tuli = fire
• tulen = of the fire
• tulta = fire (partitive)

In this sentence, the verb paeta normally takes its object/complement in the partitive when you are fleeing some danger, thing, or person.

So:

• paeta tulta = flee the fire
• paeta vihollista = flee the enemy

This is not something you translate word-for-word from English; it is just the Finnish pattern used with this verb.

Here the main point is verb government: paeta commonly takes the partitive.

So the learner-friendly rule is:

• paeta + partitive

Examples:

• paeta tulta = flee the fire
• paeta sotaa = flee war
• paeta poliisia = flee the police

You can think of it as the normal case after this verb when the thing being fled is the danger or threat itself.

You do not need to force an English-style explanation like from into it every time. Finnish often uses cases where English uses prepositions.

Not exactly as a separate word.

English says flee from the fire or simply flee the fire. Finnish often expresses that relationship through the verb pattern and case, not with a separate preposition.

So:

• paeta tulta = flee the fire
• literally, the partitive marks the thing being fled

But if you are escaping from a place, Finnish often uses -sta / -stä instead:

• paeta talosta = escape from the house
• paeta vankilasta = escape from prison

So the sentence uses tulta because the fire is the danger being fled, not a location.

Finnish has no articles.

That means there is no separate word for:

• a
• an
• the

So tuli can mean:

• fire
• a fire
• the fire

And tulta can mean:

• fire
• a fire
• the fire

The exact meaning depends on context. English translations add a or the because English needs them, but Finnish does not.

Sometimes, if the context makes the subject clear enough.

But in a standalone sentence, He pakenivat tulta is perfectly natural and clear.

Finnish can omit subjects in some situations, especially when context already tells you who is being talked about. However, learners should not assume that subject pronouns are always dropped automatically.

So for a simple clear sentence, keeping he is a good standard choice.

Yes. Finnish word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• He pakenivat tulta.

But you could move words for emphasis:

• Tulta he pakenivat.

That version puts more focus on tulta.

Even when the word order changes, the case endings and verb form still show the grammatical roles, so the meaning usually remains understandable.