Verbs of Motion (Intro)
In a nutshell
- This is an introduction only — the full verbs-of-motion system (14+ pairs, a whole family of prefixes) is a post-A2 topic. Here you get the four verbs you actually need right now.
- идти́/ходи́ть and е́хать/е́здить each split along two axes: one-direction-right-now vs. habitual/round-trip, and on-foot vs. by-vehicle.
- идти́ and е́хать describe a single trip happening now, in one direction; ходи́ть and е́здить describe repeated trips, round trips, or general ability.
- Prefixes like при- ("arrive") and у- ("leave") attach to these roots to build a much larger system — you'll get exactly a taste of that here, and the rest later.
Why motion verbs get their own lesson
English uses one verb, "go," for almost everything: "I'm going to the store," "I go to the store every day," "I'm driving to the store." Russian splits this single idea across multiple verbs, based on two separate questions:
- Is this a single trip happening in one direction right now, or is it habitual/repeated/round-trip/a general ability?
- Are you going on foot, or by some vehicle?
That's a 2×2 grid, and each cell gets its own verb. At A2 you only need the first, most common pair from each: идти́/ходи́ть (foot) and е́хать/е́здить (vehicle).
Idti vs. khodit': on foot
идти́ describes walking in one direction, as a single specific trip, happening right now (or at a specific point in a story).
| Form | |
|---|---|
| я | иду́ |
| ты | идёшь |
| он/она́ | идёт |
| мы | идём |
| вы | идёте |
| они́ | иду́т |
Я иду́ в магази́н. — lit. "I go(one-way,now) into store-ACC." — "I'm walking to the store (right now)."
ходи́ть describes walking as a habitual, repeated, round-trip, or general-ability action — not tied to one specific direction or moment.
| Form | |
|---|---|
| я | хожу́ |
| ты | хо́дишь |
| он/она́ | хо́дит |
| мы | хо́дим |
| вы | хо́дите |
| они́ | хо́дят |
Я хожу́ в магази́н ка́ждый день. — lit. "I go(habitual) into store-ACC every day." — "I go to the store every day."
Ребёнок уже́ хо́дит. — lit. "Child already walks(general-ability)." — "The child can already walk."
Notice the т→ж mutation in the "я" form of ходить (хожу́) — this is the same kind of 1st-person mutation pattern you saw back in Lesson 7.
Yekhat' vs. yezdit': by vehicle
е́хать describes traveling by vehicle (car, bus, train...) in one direction, as a single specific trip, right now.
| Form | |
|---|---|
| я | е́ду |
| ты | е́дешь |
| он/она́ | е́дет |
| мы | е́дем |
| вы | е́дете |
| они́ | е́дут |
Мы е́дем в Москву́. — lit. "We go(one-way,now,vehicle) into Moscow-ACC." — "We're driving/traveling to Moscow (right now)."
е́здить describes traveling by vehicle as a habitual, repeated, round-trip, or general-ability action.
| Form | |
|---|---|
| я | е́зжу |
| ты | е́здишь |
| он/она́ | е́здит |
| мы | е́здим |
| вы | е́здите |
| они́ | е́здят |
Я е́зжу на рабо́ту на маши́не. — lit. "I go(habitual,vehicle) onto work-ACC on car-PREP." — "I drive to work (as a routine)."
Мы ча́сто е́здим в Петербу́рг. — lit. "We often go(habitual,vehicle) into Petersburg-ACC." — "We often go/travel to Petersburg."
Idti in the past tense — a reminder
You already met this irregular past stem in Lesson 8, and it's central to talking about motion, so it's worth repeating here:
| Gender/number | Form |
|---|---|
| Masculine | шёл |
| Feminine | шла́ |
| Neuter | шло́ |
| Plural | шли́ |
Я шёл в шко́лу, когда́ уви́дел дру́га. — lit. "I went(masc,one-way) into school-ACC, when saw friend-ACC." — "I was walking to school when I saw my friend."
е́хать's past tense is regular: е́хал / е́хала / е́хало / е́хали.
Мы е́хали в Москву́ на по́езде. — lit. "We went(vehicle,one-way) into Moscow-ACC on train-PREP." — "We were traveling to Moscow by train."
ходи́ть and е́здить also have regular past tenses: ходи́л/ходи́ла/ходи́ло/ходи́ли and е́здил/е́здила/е́здило/е́здили.
Two axes, one decision table
Here's the full picture in one place — remember you're always answering two questions at once: foot or vehicle? and one specific trip right now, or habitual/round-trip/general?
| On foot | By vehicle | |
|---|---|---|
| One direction, specific trip, now | идти́ | е́хать |
| Habitual / repeated / round-trip / general ability | ходи́ть | е́здить |
Он идёт в парк. — lit. "He goes(one-way,foot) into park-ACC." — "He's walking to the park (right now)." — one trip, on foot, in progress
Он хо́дит в парк ка́ждое у́тро. — lit. "He goes(habitual,foot) into park-ACC every morning." — "He goes to the park every morning." — repeated, on foot
Она́ е́дет в аэропо́рт. — lit. "She goes(one-way,vehicle) into airport-ACC." — "She's on her way to the airport." — one trip, by vehicle, in progress
Она́ е́здит в аэропо́рт ка́ждый ме́сяц. — lit. "She goes(habitual,vehicle) into airport-ACC every month." — "She travels to the airport every month." — repeated, by vehicle
If you're ever unsure which verb to reach for, ask yourself these two questions in order: (1) Am I on foot or in a vehicle? — picks идти́/ходи́ть vs. е́хать/е́здить. (2) Am I describing one specific trip happening right now (or at one moment in a story), or something repeated/habitual/round-trip? — picks идти́/е́хать vs. ходи́ть/е́здить.
The perfective "set off": пойти́ / пое́хать
идти́ and е́хать are imperfective, describing the ongoing trip itself. Their perfective partners, пойти́ and пое́хать, mean "to set off / head out" — the single completed moment of starting the trip, not the whole journey.
Я пошёл в магази́н. — lit. "I set-off(masc,perf) into store-ACC." — "I headed to the store." (the moment of leaving — you're now on your way, or already gone)
Мы пое́дем в Москву́ за́втра. — lit. "We will-set-off(perf-future) into Moscow-ACC tomorrow." — "We'll head to Moscow tomorrow."
Он пошёл домо́й. — lit. "He set-off(masc,perf) homeward." — "He left for home / He's gone home."
This is exactly the aspect distinction from Lesson 9 applied to motion verbs: идти́ (imperfective) = the ongoing trip; пойти́ (perfective) = the single bounded act of departing.
A prefix teaser — and where the rest of this lives
идти́ and е́хать are actually the roots of a much bigger family. Small prefixes attach to them to build precise directional verbs — arriving, leaving, entering, crossing, and more. You only need two examples right now, just to see the shape of the system:
прийти́ (from при- + идти́) means "to arrive" (on foot).
Он придёт в семь часо́в. — lit. "He will-arrive(perf) at seven hour-GEN." — "He'll arrive at seven o'clock."
уйти́ (from у- + идти́) means "to leave / depart" (on foot).
Она́ ушла́ ра́но. — lit. "She left(fem,perf) early." — "She left early."
That's it for now — the full prefix system (при-, у-, в-, вы-, до-, за-, etc., applied to all four roots you learned above, plus more) is a substantial topic on its own and is deliberately deferred to a later, post-A2 lesson. For A2, being solid on идти́/ходи́ть, е́хать/е́здить, and their basic perfective пойти́/пое́хать is genuinely enough to describe your daily movements, plans, and simple travel stories.
Practice
- Conjugate идти́ for "мы" and "они́."
- Conjugate ходи́ть for "я" and "ты." What consonant mutation happens?
- Choose идти́ or ходи́ть: Я ___ в шко́лу сейча́с. (right now, one trip)
- Choose идти́ or ходи́ть: Я ___ в шко́лу ка́ждый день. (every day, habitual)
- Choose е́хать or е́здить: Мы ___ в о́тпуск ка́ждое ле́то. (every summer, habitual)
- Choose е́хать or е́здить: Мы ___ на мо́ре сейча́с. (right now, one trip)
- Give the masculine and feminine past tense of идти́.
- Translate using пойти́: "She headed to work." (feminine subject)
- Translate: "He will arrive tomorrow." (use прийти́)
- Translate: "She left early." (use уйти́, feminine)
- True or false: ходи́ть can describe a general ability, like a child learning to walk.
- In one sentence, explain the two axes that distinguish идти́, ходи́ть, е́хать, and е́здить from each other.
Answers
- мы идём, они́ иду́т — regular идти́ present tense.
- я хожу́, ты хо́дишь — т→ж mutation in the "я" form only.
- иду́ — one specific trip, happening now.
- хожу́ — habitual, repeated action.
- е́здим — habitual, repeated, by vehicle.
- е́дем — one specific trip, right now, by vehicle.
- шёл (masculine), шла́ (feminine) — irregular past stem.
- Она́ пошла́ на рабо́ту. — perfective пойти́, feminine past, "set off."
- Он придёт за́втра. — prefixed perfective, при- = "arrive."
- Она́ ушла́ ра́но. — prefixed perfective, у- = "leave/depart."
- True — ходи́ть covers general ability/habitual walking, not just repeated round trips.
- The two axes are: (1) on foot vs. by vehicle, and (2) a single trip in one direction happening now vs. habitual/repeated/round-trip/general ability.