Verbs of motion are used to describe movement from one place to another. In English ‘to go’ is the most common verb of motion. The verbs of motion in Russian are considerably more complicated. As with all Russian verbs there are imperfective and perfective forms. But additionally, they have have two imperfective forms, the unidirectional and multidirectional (or habitual), that indicate whether the journey is one-way or involves a return (or habitual – daily, every morning, weekly etc.) trip.
These are the imperfective forms of the verb ‘to go.
| By foot | By transport | |
| unidirectional one-way journey | идти To go on foot, in one direction. * I am going to the library (by foot) | ехать To go by transport, in one direction. * I am going to Moscow (by train) |
| multidirectional or habitual | ходить To go on foot, in more than one direction, or repetitively. * I go to school (every morning – by foot). | ездить To go by transport, in more than one direction, or repetitively * I go to school (every morning – by bus) |
The perfective forms of the verb ‘to go are пойти and поехать. These do not have different unidirectional and multidirectional forms and are most frequently used for the past or future tense.
| By foot | By transport |
| пойти * я пошёл – I went (by foot) * я пойду – I will go (by foot) | поехать * Я пое́хал – I went (by transport) * Я пое́ду – I will go (by transport) |
The Russian verbs of motion conjugate irregularly:
Идти – To go on foot in one direction.
| Present tense | Past tense |
| Я иду | Он шёл (masc. sing) |
| Ты идёшь | Она шла (fem. sing) |
| Он идёт | Оно шло (neu. sing) |
| Мы идём | Они шли (plural) |
| Вы идёте | |
| Они идут |
Ходить – To go on foot, in more than one direction, or repetitively.
| Present tense | Past tense |
| Я хожу | Он ходил (masc. sing) |
| Ты ходишь | Она ходила (fem. sing) |
| Он ходит | Оно ходило (neu. sing) |
| Мы ходим | Они ходили (plural) |
| Вы ходите | |
| Они ходят |
Ехать – To go by transport, in one direction.
| Present tense | Past tense |
| Я еду | Он ехал (masc. sing) |
| Ты едешь | Она ехала (fem. sing) |
| Он едет | Оно ехало (neu. sing) |
| Мы едем | Они ехали (plural) |
| Вы едете | |
| Они едут |
Ездить – To go by transport, in one direction.
| Present tense | Past tense |
| Я езжу | Он ездил (masc. sing) |
| Ты ездишь | Она ездила (fem. sing) |
| Он ездит | Оно ездило (neu. sing) |
| Мы ездим | Они ездили (plural) |
| Вы ездите | |
| Они ездят |
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