Он избежал наказания.

Избежать is the dictionary form, meaning to avoid / to escape.
In the sentence, we need the past tense, so избежать becomes избежал.

• избежать = infinitive
• избежал = past tense, masculine singular

So Он избежал наказания literally means He avoided punishment or He escaped punishment.

In Russian, the past tense is usually formed with -л.

For this verb:

• избежал = he avoided
• избежала = she avoided
• избежало = it avoided
• избежали = they avoided

Because он means he, the masculine form избежал is used.

Because the verb избежать normally takes the genitive case, not the nominative or accusative.

So:

• dictionary form: наказание = punishment
• after избежать: наказания

This is something learners usually just need to remember as part of the verb pattern:

• избежать чего? = to avoid what? / literally to avoid of what?
• избежать наказания = to avoid punishment

It is genitive singular.

The noun наказание is a neuter noun, and its genitive singular form is наказания.

So:

• nominative: наказание
• genitive: наказания

This is a very common pattern with some Russian verbs: the verb requires a specific case.

Избежать is a perfective verb.

That matters because perfective verbs usually describe a completed result.
So Он избежал наказания means that he successfully avoided punishment — the result is clear.

If you used the imperfective verb избегать, it would usually suggest a repeated, habitual, or ongoing idea rather than one completed event.

Compare:

• Он избежал наказания. = He avoided/escaped punishment.
• Он избегал наказания. = He was avoiding punishment / He used to avoid punishment.

This is mainly an aspect difference.

• избежал = perfective, one completed success
• избегал = imperfective, process, repetition, or habit

So:

• Он избежал наказания. = He managed to avoid punishment.
• Он избегал наказания. = He was trying to avoid punishment / He kept avoiding punishment.

In your sentence, the speaker is talking about a finished outcome, so избежал is the natural choice.

Yes, often it can.

Russian often drops subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from context. So you may hear:

• Избежал наказания. = [He] avoided punishment.

However, он may still be used:

• for emphasis
• for contrast
• when the subject needs to be made clear

So both are possible, but Он избежал наказания is perfectly natural.

No, Russian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Он избежал наказания.

But you could also hear:

• Наказания он избежал.
• Избежал он наказания.

These alternatives change the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

For a learner, the original order is the safest and most neutral.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Избежать often means:

• to avoid
• to escape
• to evade

So Он избежал наказания could be translated as:

• He avoided punishment.
• He escaped punishment.
• He evaded punishment.

In many contexts, avoided punishment is the most straightforward translation.

The stress is:

• Он — monosyllabic, so no issue
• избежа́л
• наказа́ния

So the sentence is pronounced roughly:

он избежа́л наказа́ния

Stress is important in Russian, because changing it can make a word sound wrong or unnatural.

Наказание means punishment, penalty, or sometimes disciplinary action, depending on context.

Examples:

• избежать наказания = avoid punishment
• понести наказание = undergo punishment / face punishment
• строгое наказание = severe punishment

In your sentence, it most naturally means punishment in a general sense.

Yes, it is not formed in the most predictable way from the infinitive, so many learners treat it as a verb form to memorize.

The infinitive is избежать, but the past masculine form is избежал, with a stem change. This is normal for some Russian verbs, even if it feels irregular at first.

It is best to learn it as part of the verb’s principal forms:

• избежать = infinitive
• избежал = past masculine
• избегать = related imperfective partner

So if the form looks a little surprising, that is completely normal.