Vocabulary 11—Verbs of Motion

Unidirectional at a relevant moment in time		Multidirectional during a relevant time period
идти́—to walk in a particular direction		ходи́ть—to walk around
Иди́!	Be on thy way!	Ходи́!	Walk about! (thou)
Иди́те!	Be on your way!	Ходи́те!	Walk about! (you)
Я иду́	I am walking along	Я хожу́	I am walking about
Мы идём	We are walking along	Мы хо́дим	We are walking about
Ты идёшь	Thou art walking along	Ты хо́дишь	Thou art walking about
Вы идёте	You are walking along	Вы хо́дите	You are walking about
Он/Она́/Оно́ идёт	He/She/It is walking along	Он/Она́/Оно́ хо́дит	He/She/It is walking about
Они́ иду́т	They are walking along	Они́ хо́дят	They are walking about
Он шёл	He was walking along	Он ходи́л	He was walking about
Она́ шла	She was walking along	Она́ ходи́ла	She was walking about
Оно́ шло	It was walking along	Оно́ ходи́ло	It was walking about
Они́ шли	They were walking along	Они́ ходи́ли	They were walking about
е́хать—to ride in a particular direction		е́здить—to ride around
Поезжа́й!	Ride off! (thou)	Е́зди!	Ride around! (thou)
Поезжа́йте!	Ride off! (you)	Е́здите!	Ride around! (you)
Я е́ду	I am riding along	Я е́зжу	I am riding around
Мы е́дим	We are riding along	Мы е́здим	We are riding around
Ты е́дешь	Thou art riding along	Ты е́здишь	Thou art riding around
Вы е́дите	You are riding along	Вы е́здите	We are riding around
Он/Она́/Оно́ е́дет	He/She/It is riding along	Он/Она́/Оно́ е́здит	He/She/It is riding around
Они́ е́дут	They are riding along	Они́ е́здят	They are riding around
Он е́хал	He was riding along	Он е́здил	He was riding around
Она́ е́хала	She was riding along	Она́ е́здила	She was riding around
Оно́ е́хало	It was riding along	Оно́ е́здило	It was riding around
Они́ е́хали	They were riding along	Они́ е́здили	They were riding around

A verb of motion describes the act of moving from place to place. Examples from English include “go”, “walk”, “run”, “drive”, “swim”, and “drift”. The table above shows four widely-used Russian verbs of motion. Two of them refer to motion on foot under one's own power. The other two refer to gliding along perhaps in an automobile, on a bicycle, on horseback, or in the brief moment between slipping on a banana peel and hitting the ground.

Russian verbs of motion always come in pairs. One describes a motion which proceeds in one direction (at least during the time the speaker has in mind). The other describes a motion which goes in two or more directions during the time the speaker has in mind. For example, a speaker might use a multidirectional verb to describe his motion from store to store during a shopping trip but switch to a unidirectional verb to tell about crossing the street during the same shopping trip.

The verbs of motion shown above are all imperfective. This means that they invite us to picture the motion in progress. For example, “Я шёл в школу.” means “I was walking on my way to school.” Soon you will learn about prefixes for verbs of motion which can be used to talk about other points in the journey.