Verbs of Motion
So-called ‘verbs of motion’ make a separate group of verbs. For example, “идти” (walk), “ехать” (go) and “бежать” (run). In Russian, such words behave unlike other verbs. There are a lot of grammar concepts and it takes time to learn them, but it’s a really important when learning Russian.
As you may know, in Russian, most verbs have imperfective and perfective forms. The perfective form indicates that the action has been or will be done (just like Perfect tenses in English). Past and future tenses in Russian use both the perfective and imperfective verbal forms.
Moreover, Russian verbs of motion have two imperfective forms. These forms indicate whether the trip is made once and in one direction, or there has been a return trip. These forms are just like Simple and Continuous in English. To take this complexity easier, let’s call these tenses Simple and Continuous.
Several Russian verbs of motion are mentioned below. These four pairs are commonly used, especially the first two verbs. As you see, the Russians use different pairs of verbs for “go” and “carry”/“take” considering, whether the respective actions are performed using a vehicle or without it. And each one has two imperfective forms described above. The Russians, however, don’t care if the object comes to the speaker or goes from the speaker. In both cases, the same verbs should work.
Ходить / Идти – to go (on foot), to come, or to walk.
Ездить / Ехать – to go (by a vehicle as a passenger), to come, or to drive (a vehicle).
Носить / Нести – to carry or take somewhere (on foot), also to wear (only Носить).
Возить / Везти – to carry or take somewhere (by vehicle).
Let’s learn the difference between two forms of each verb using these verbal pairs as examples…
Verbs for ‘to go’
Ходить — To go on foot in many directions or many times (two or more).
Идти — To go on foot in one direction and once.
Usually, you use this form where you use Simple tenses in English.
Here is the comparison for the Present tenses:
| Ходить (Go in Present Simple) | Идти (Go in Present Continuous) |
| Я хожу в спортзал. (I go to the gym.) | Я иду в спортзал. (I’m going to the gym.) |
| Ты часто ходишь пешком? (Do you often go on foot?) | Ты идёшь домой пешком? (Are you going home on foot?) |
| Она ещё не ходит. Ей всего два года. (She can’t/doesn’t walk yet. She is just two.) | Она идёт на пляж. (She’s walking to the beach.) |
| Мы ходим в кафе по выходным. (We go to the cafe on weekends.) | Мы сегодня идём в кафе. (We’re going to the cafe today.) |
| Вы ходите на станцию через парк? (Do you go to the station across the park?) | Вы идёте на станцию? (Are you going to the station?) |
| Они ходят кругами по лесу. (They are walking in circles in the forest.) | Смотри! Они идут обратно. (Look! They’re going back.) |
If these people use a vehicle instead of walking on foot, the same sentences look different. Other verbs are used for “to go”. For example:
Ездить — To go by a vehicle, in many directions or many times.
Ехать — To go by a vehicle in one direction and once.
| Ездить (Go in Simple) | Ехать (Go in Continuous) |
| Я езжу в спортзал на велосипеде. (I ride to the gym by bike.) | Я еду в спортзал на велосипеде. (I’m riding to the gym by bike.) |
| Ты часто ездишь на машине? (Do you often go by car?) | Ты едешь домой на машине? (Are you going home by car?) |
| Она ещё не ездит. У неё нет прав. (She doesn’t drive yet. She has no license.) | Она едет на пляж на такси. (She’s going to the beach by taxi.) |
| Мы ездим в кафе по выходным. (We go to the cafe on weekends) | Мы сегодня едем в кафе. (We’re going to the cafe today.) |
| Вы ездите на станцию на автобусе? (Do you go to the station by bus?) | Вы едете на станцию? (Are you going to the station?) |
| На гонках они ездят кругами. (At the race, they drive in circles.) | Смотри! Они едут обратно. (Look! They’re going back.) |
Verbs for ‘to carry’ or ‘to take to’
Носить — To carry many times or to wear.
Нести — To carry one time.
| Носить (To carry or take to in Simple) | Нести (To carry of take to in Continuous) |
| Я часто ношу брёвна из леса. (I often carry logs from the forest.) | Я несу книги в библиотеку. (I’m taking/carrying the books to the library.) |
| Как ты носишь такой тяжёлый рюкзак? (How do you carry such a heavy backpack?) | Что ты несёшь в рюкзаке? (What are you carrying in the backpack?) |
| Она носит белое платье. (She wears a white dress.) | Она несёт платье в химчистку. (She’s taking her dress to the cleaners.) |
| Они носят чёрные шляпы. (They wear black hats.) | Они несут стол на кухню. (They’re taking the table to the kitchen.) |
Возить — To carry many times.
Везти — To carry one time.
| Возить (To carry or take to in Simple) | Везти (To carry of take to in Continuous) |
| Я всегда вожу сына в школу на машине. (I always take my son to school by car.) | Сегодня я везу сына на концерт. (I’m taking my son to the concert today.) |
| Такой грузовик обычно возит прицеп. (This kind of truck normally carries a trailer.) | Сейчас мой грузовик везёт тонну дров. (My truck is carrying a ton of logs now.) |
Verbs of motion in Present, Past, and Future tenses
Let’s learn more verbs of motion first…
Летать / Лететь — to fly (like a bird or by plane).
Плавать / Плыть — to swim (about a man) or to sail (about a vessel, a sailor or a captain).
Бегать / Бежать – to run.
Бродить / Брести – to wander.
Гонять / Гнать — to drive (someone away, out, into a corner, or like cattle) or to rush.
Лазать / Лезть — to climb (a mountain or a ladder).
Водить / Вести — to lead, to accompany or to drive (a car).
Бродить / Брести — to ramble.
Ползать / Ползти — to crawl.
Таскать / Тащить — to drag.
Here are several examples with some of these verbs in Present tenses:
| Many times or many directions (Present Simple) | One time and one direction (Present Continuous) |
| Я летаю в Берлин и Рим по делам. (I fly to Berlin and Rome on business.) | Смотри, птица летит. (Look, a bird is flying.) |
| Он плавает на лодке каждое лето. (He sails a boat every summer.) | Мы плывём слишком медленно. (We are swimming too slow.) |
| Я бегаю каждое утро. Я люблю бегать. (I run every morning. I like to run.) | Я еле бегу. Я больше не могу бежать. (I’m hardly running. I cannot run anymore.) |
Let’s watch these phrases changing in Past tenses.
| Many times or many directions (Past Simple) | One time and one direction (Past Continuous) |
| Я летал в Берлин и Рим по делам. (I flew to Berlin and Rome on business.) | Птица летела низко. (The bird was flying low.) |
| Он плавал на лодке каждое лето. (He sailed a boat every summer.) | Мы плыли слишком медленно. (We were swimming too slow.) |
| Я бегал каждое утро. (I ran every morning.) | Я еле бежал. (I was hardly running.) |
A particularity of “Идти” is irregular past form: “он шёл”/“она шла”/“оно шло”.
| Many times or many directions (Past Simple) | One time and one direction (Past Continuous) |
| Я ходил в спортзал. (I walked to the gym.) | Я встретил её, когда я шёл в спортзал. (I met her when I was walking to the gym.) |
| Она ходила на дискотеку по выходным. (She walked to the disco on weekends.) | Она шла домой с дискотеки. (She was walking home from the disco.) |
For the most useful Future tense (the Russian analog of Future Simple), most verbs of motion just add the «по» prefix before its Present Continuous form.
If we need to use the analog of Future Continuous in Russian, we need the verb “to be” to make forms like “Я буду летать” (many times or in many directions) or “Я буду лететь” — I will be flying (one time or in one direction).
Prefixed Verbs of Motion
If you add a prefix to a verb of motion, this will slightly change its meaning. This normally adds the direction of motion just like a particle of a phrasal verb does in English.
Let’s study a look at the prefixes and the respective English particles of phrasal verbs.
в- — in
вы- — out
вз-/вос- — out
до- — to
за- — in, by
об- — around
от- — away
пере- — across, over
под- — under, to
при- — to
про- — through
с- — from, off
у- — from, away
Now let’s study some examples of the prefixes in use with the verb “Ходить/Идти”. (Note that ‘идти’ turns into ‘йти’ when follows a prefix.)
въезжать / въехать — to drive in or to drive up.
выезжать / выехать — to drive out.
доезжать / доехать — to drive to, to get to.
заезжать / заехать — to drop in, to drive by.
объезжать / объехать — to drive around or bypass.
отъезжать / отъехать — to drive aside or away.
переезжать / переехать — to drive over or across.
подъезжать / подъехать — to drive to or approach.
приезжать / приехать – to come or to arrive.
проезжать / проехать — to drive by or to pass.
съезжать / съехать — to drive down or to drive off.
уезжать / уехать — to drive away, to leave, or to depart.
The meaning of a prefixed verb may differ a lot from the initial verb of motion and may have nothing to do with motion at all…
находить / найти — to find.
происходить / произойти — to happen or to originate.
переносить / перенести — to carry over, to postpone, or to endure.
Let’s study an example of these verbs in the Past tense. Remember the irregular past form of “Ходить/Идти”: “он шёл”/“он шла”/“оно шло”. There is another tricky thing: when you add a prefix, Russian “Simple” and “Continuous” forms swap in the Past tense. Like this:
| One time and one direction (Past Simple) | Many times, many directions, or action in process (Past Continous) |
| Она быстро вышла из машины. (She quickly got out of her car.) | Когда она выходила из машины, её убили. (When she was getting out of the car, she was killed.) |
| Прошло пять минут. (Five minutes passed.) | Многие люди проходили мимо. (Many people were passing by.) |
| Только один парень подошёл к ней. (Only one guy approached her.) | Он подходил под описание киллера. (He was fitting the killer’s description.) |
In Present Tense (Simple=Continuous) and in Future Continuous, prefixed verbs of motion have only one form each:
| One time and one direction | Many times or many directions |
| Что здесь происходит? (What’s happening here?) | В этом доме часто происходят странные вещи. (Strange things often happen in this house.) |
| Они будут переносить дату свадьбы. (They will change the wedding date.) | Они будут переносить всю мебель. (They will carry over all the furniture.) |
Different motion verbs behave similarly with prefixes of direction. Let’s study “Ездить/Ехать” as an example and compare it with “Ходить/Идти”. (Note that “ездить” turns into “езжать” when follows a prefix.)
въезжать / въехать — to drive in or to drive up.
выезжать / выехать — to drive out.
доезжать / доехать — to drive to, to get to.
заезжать / заехать — to drop in, to drive by.
объезжать / объехать — to drive around or bypass.
отъезжать / отъехать — to drive aside or away.
переезжать / переехать — to drive over or relocate, also to run over.
подъезжать / подъехать — to drive to or approach.
приезжать / приехать – to come or to arrive.
проезжать / проехать — to drive by or to pass.
съезжать / съехать — to drive down or to drive off, also to move out.
уезжать / уехать — to drive away, to leave, or to depart.
| Past Simple | Past Continuous |
| Он выехал из города и съехал с дороги. (He drove out of the city and off the road.) | Мы увидели его, когда он съезжал с дороги. (We saw him when he was driving off the road.) |
Conclusion
Let’s list the forms that we have learned in one table for the verbs “Ходить/Идти” (to go/walk) and “Находить/Найти” (to find):
Well, the verbs of motion are quite challenging. Don’t worry if you haven’t remembered or haven’t understood something yet. It takes practice to master these.