El enemigo intentó huir.

The accent shows that intentó is the third-person singular preterite form of intentar.

• intento = I try / I am trying or attempt as a noun
• intentó = he/she/it tried

The accent also tells you where the stress goes: in intentó, the stress falls on the last syllable.

Because after intentar, Spanish normally uses a second verb in the infinitive:

• intentar + infinitive

So:

• intentó huir = tried to flee / tried to escape

This is very common in Spanish:

• quiero comer
• puede venir
• intentaron salir

In English, you say tried to flee, but in Spanish intentar is followed directly by the infinitive, with no extra preposition.

So Spanish uses:

• intentar huir

not:

• intentar a huir

This is just a pattern you need to learn with the verb intentar.

Intentó is the preterite, which is used for a completed action or a single specific event in the past.

So El enemigo intentó huir suggests one particular attempt.

If you said intentaba huir, that would sound more like:

• he was trying to flee
• he used to try to flee
• the action was in progress or part of the background

So the difference is mainly:

• intentó = a completed, specific attempt
• intentaba = an ongoing or repeated attempt

Spanish usually needs an article before a singular countable noun in this kind of sentence.

So:

• el enemigo = the enemy

Just enemigo by itself would usually not work here as a normal subject.

The article tells us this is a specific enemy, probably one already known from the context.

Yes. That would mean an enemy tried to flee.

The difference is:

• el enemigo = a specific or already identified enemy
• un enemigo = one enemy, not previously identified or not specific

So both are grammatical, but they do not mean exactly the same thing.

Yes. It changes for gender and number:

• el enemigo = the male enemy / the enemy
• la enemiga = the female enemy
• los enemigos = the enemies
• las enemigas = the female enemies

In your sentence, enemigo is singular masculine.

The h in Spanish is silent, so huir does not begin with an English h sound.

In Spain, huir is usually pronounced roughly like oo-EER.

A few useful points:

• h = silent
• the stress is on the second syllable
• the final r is a light Spanish r, not a strong English r

It is partly irregular.

The infinitive is huir, and some forms behave regularly, but others change, especially in the present tense:

• huyo
• huyes
• huye
• huimos
• huís
• huyen

So it is a verb worth learning separately.

In this sentence, though, huir stays in the infinitive, so you do not see any irregular conjugated form.

Yes, absolutely.

Spanish often drops the subject when it is understood from the verb form or the context.

• Intentó huir = He/She/It tried to flee

But without the noun, intentó could mean:

• he tried
• she tried
• it tried
• you tried (formal singular)

So keeping el enemigo makes the subject completely clear.

They are similar, but not always identical.

• huir often emphasizes fleeing, especially from danger, fear, or pursuit
• escapar often emphasizes escaping or getting away

In many contexts, both can work, but huir can sound more like to flee, while escapar can sound more like to escape.

So:

• El enemigo intentó huir = the enemy tried to flee
• El enemigo intentó escapar = the enemy tried to escape

Both are natural, but the nuance is slightly different.

El enemigo intentó huir is the most neutral and standard order:

• subject + verb + infinitive

Spanish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible in some contexts, but this version is the clearest and most natural for most learners.

For example, Intentó huir el enemigo is possible in some styles or contexts, but it sounds more marked and less neutral.