Choose in three steps: mode, direction, then aspect. Russian verbs of motion distinguish how you travel and whether you describe one directed journey, repeated trips, or movement in several directions.
On foot: идти / ходить. By vehicle: ехать / ездить. For flying, swimming, carrying, or leading, choose the corresponding pair below.
One journey in a direction, currently under way or scheduled: идти / ехать. A habit, movement in various directions, or a past visit viewed as a whole: ходить / ездить.
This is a separate aspect choice. All four unprefixed verbs above are imperfective. Learn an actual prefixed aspect pair for arrival or departure, such as приехать / приезжать; a single direction alone does not make a verb perfective.
Direction is not aspect: идти, ходить, ехать, ездить are all imperfective. A prefix can add a route or endpoint, but do not assume the perfective and imperfective partners are formed mechanically. Learn each actual pair below. Then try these choices in the interactive diagrams.
On foot
идти́
A specific journey on foot
By transport
е́хать
A specific journey by transport
One journey in progress
The route runs one way from home toward work. It illustrates direction, not a claim of completed arrival.
In context
Сейча́с я иду́ на рабо́ту.
I’m walking to work right now.
A single ongoing journey uses directional идти / ехать.
Important: идти́, ходи́ть, е́хать, е́здить are all imperfective. Direction and grammatical aspect are separate distinctions.
Walking · directional
идти́
to walk in one direction
Directional movement
A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
Я иду́ домо́й.
I am walking home.
Prefixes change the journey: arrive, leave, enter, exit, approach, move away, cross, reach, pass through or drop in. Select one.
Arrive · perfective · on foot
прийти́
To arrive on foot. Toward a destination.
Arrive at the destination
A traveler moves from a starting point to home, stopping at the destination.
Я пришёл домо́й.
I arrived home.
The large prefixed form is perfective: it presents a bounded event as a whole, not necessarily an event already completed. Perfective can describe a past event or a future one: Завтра я приду́ домо́й ра́но. (Tomorrow I will arrive home early.) The imperfective partner can describe repeated events or movement in progress.
Ten practice questions, not a proficiency assessment. Choose the form that matches the Russian sentence and its English meaning. Each answer is submitted once.
In progress
Сейча́с я ___ в магази́н пешко́м.
I am walking to the shop right now.
Идти́, ходи́ть, е́хать, е́здить are all imperfective. Direction and grammatical aspect are separate distinctions.
One direction: идти́ / е́хать
A single ongoing journey uses directional идти / ехать.
Сейча́с я иду́ на рабо́ту.
I’m walking to work right now.
Diagram: One journey in progress. The route runs one way from home toward work. It illustrates direction, not a claim of completed arrival.
Repeated / multidirectional: ходи́ть / е́здить
Habitual, round-trip or non-directional movement uses multidirectional ходить / ездить.
Ка́ждый день я хожу́ на рабо́ту.
I walk to work every day.
Diagram: Trips back and forth or habitual travel. The route goes from home to work and back, illustrating repeated, round-trip or multidirectional movement.
идти́ · directional
to walk in one direction
Я иду́ домо́й.
I am walking home.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
ходи́ть · multidirectional
to walk habitually or around
Я ча́сто хожу́ пешко́м.
I often walk on foot.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
е́хать · directional
to travel by transport in one direction
Мы е́дем в го́род.
We are travelling into town.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
е́здить · multidirectional
to travel habitually or around
Мы ча́сто е́здим в го́род.
We often travel into town.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
бежа́ть · directional
to run along one route
Он бежи́т в парк.
He is running to the park.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
бе́гать · multidirectional
to run habitually or around
Он бе́гает ка́ждое у́тро.
He runs every morning.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
лете́ть · directional
to fly along one route
Самолёт лети́т в Ри́гу.
The plane is flying to Riga.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
лета́ть · multidirectional
to fly habitually or around
Я ча́сто лета́ю в Ри́гу.
I often fly to Riga.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
плыть · directional
to swim or sail in one direction
Ло́дка плывёт к бе́регу.
The boat is moving toward shore.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
пла́вать · multidirectional
to swim or sail habitually or around
Она́ пла́вает в бассе́йне.
She swims in the pool.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
нести́ · directional
to carry on foot in one direction
Я несу́ су́мку домо́й.
I am carrying a bag home.
Diagram: Directional movement. A single route leads from a starting point toward a target.
носи́ть · multidirectional
to carry or wear habitually
Я ношу́ очки́.
I wear glasses.
Diagram: Multidirectional movement. The route leads toward a target and back toward the starting point. Wearing glasses is a habitual meaning of носить, not a literal trip along this route.
The large prefixed form is perfective: it presents a bounded event as a whole, not necessarily an event already completed. Perfective can describe a past event or a future one: Завтра я приду́ домо́й ра́но. (Tomorrow I will arrive home early.) The imperfective partner can describe repeated events or movement in progress.
To arrive on foot. Toward a destination.
Я пришёл домо́й.
I arrived home.
Diagram: Arrive at the destination. A traveler moves from a starting point to home, stopping at the destination.
To leave on foot. Away from a starting point.
Она́ ушла́ с рабо́ты.
She left work.
Diagram: Leave the starting point. A traveler leaves home and moves beyond a dashed boundary, away from the starting point.
To enter on foot. Moving inward.
Он вошёл в ко́мнату.
He entered the room.
Diagram: Cross the threshold into the room. A traveler starts outside, passes through the doorway at x=282, and ends inside the room.
To exit on foot. Moving outward.
Мы вы́шли из до́ма.
We went out of the house.
Diagram: Cross the threshold to the outside. A traveler starts inside the house, passes through the doorway at x=306, and ends outside.
To approach on foot. Moving closer.
Я подошёл к две́ри.
I approached the door.
Diagram: Get closer to the target. A traveler moves toward a target but stops near it, without entering or passing through it.
To move away on foot. Increasing distance.
Он отошёл от окна́.
He moved away from the window.
Diagram: Increase the distance. A traveler starts near a reference point and moves farther away from it.
To cross on foot. From one side to another.
Она́ перешла́ у́лицу.
She crossed the street.
Diagram: Cross to the other side. A traveler crosses the street on a pedestrian crossing, moving from side A to side B.
To reach a point on foot. Reaching the endpoint.
Мы дошли́ до па́рка.
We reached the park on foot.
Diagram: Go as far as the endpoint. A traveler moves up to a finish line and stops at that limit.
To pass through on foot. Moving past or through.
Мы прошли́ че́рез парк.
We walked through the park.
Diagram: Pass through and continue. A traveler starts before a park, walks through it, and continues beyond its far edge.
To drop in on foot. Making a stop or detour.
Я зашёл в магази́н.
I dropped by the shop.
Diagram: Stop by, then continue. A traveler leaves the main route to visit a shop, then rejoins the route and continues.
After exploring the diagrams, keep these pairs together — never learn one without the other. Use the conjugations below as your tense reference.
Идти describes walking in one direction; ходить describes habitual or multidirectional walking and can describe a single past visit. Я иду в школу. — “I’m walking to school.” Я хожу в школу каждый день. — “I go to school every day.” Вчера я ходил в музей. — “Yesterday I visited the museum.”
Ехать and ездить make the same distinction by vehicle: one directed journey versus habitual, multidirectional travel or a past visit. Я еду на работу. — “I’m on my way to work by transport.” Я езжу на работу на автобусе. — “I take the bus to work.”
The most common pair. Идти focuses on one journey in a direction; ходить covers habits, movement in several directions, or a past visit viewed as a whole.
Used for car, bus, train, taxi — any wheeled or rail transport (not flying or sailing).
Бежать is irregular (бегу, бежишь, бегут).
Used for both aircraft and birds.
Used for people swimming and for boats sailing.
For carrying something while walking. Носить also means 'to wear' (clothes).
For transporting cargo or people in a vehicle.
Also: водить машину = 'to drive a car' (you 'lead' the car).
The four everyday go verbs have forms worth learning separately: я иду, я хожу, я еду, and irregular я езжу (not ездю).
Present forms follow я, ты, он/она, мы, вы, они. In the past, choose masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural to match the subject.
Идти has irregular past forms шёл, шла, шло, шли. Я шёл домой. — “I was walking home.” Я ехал домой. — “I was traveling home by transport.” Neither asserts arrival. Я ходил в театр. / Я ездил в театр. — “I visited the theater” on foot / by transport. Ходил and ездил also describe habits: Я ездил туда каждую неделю. — “I went there every week.”
A future habit and a particular departure are different meanings, not interchangeable “future forms” of one verb. Imperfective буду идти / буду ехать can also focus on a journey in progress at a future time.
Perfective future приду describes a future arrival, not something already completed: Я приду завтра. — “I’ll come tomorrow.” Perfective aspect presents that future event as a whole.
Я буду ходить на работу пешком.
I will walk to work regularly.
Imperfective compound future for a future habit (буду + ходить).
Я пойду домой после урока.
I will set off home on foot after class.
Perfective future of пойти: a particular departure on foot.
Я поеду домой после урока.
I will set off home by vehicle after class.
Perfective future of поехать: a particular departure by vehicle.
Завтра я еду в Москву.
Tomorrow I'm going to Moscow by vehicle.
The present of ехать can describe a scheduled journey.
See Russian verb tenses for more future forms.
Now put the forms in context: follow the same trip to the shop through four different viewpoints.
Пошёл means “set off on foot”: it is the perfective onset of movement, not arrival. Он пошёл в магазин. — “He set off for the shop.” Ходил is imperfective and can describe a past visit or habit: Он ходил в магазин вчера. — “He visited the shop yesterday.” A finished visit in context does not make the verb perfective.
Я шёл в магазин, когда начался дождь.
I was walking to the shop when it began to rain.
The outward journey was in progress; this says nothing about arrival or return.
Я пришёл в магазин в десять.
I arrived at the shop at ten.
A completed arrival on foot, not simply movement toward the shop.
Вчера я ходил в магазин.
Yesterday I went to the shop.
A past visit viewed as a whole; a there-and-back reading is usual in this context, but the verb alone does not guarantee that the speaker returned.
Я хожу в магазин каждую субботу.
I go to the shop every Saturday.
A recurring habit, not one trip under way now.
Ходил / ездил often suggests a completed visit and return in everyday contexts, but that is a contextual inference, not an encoded guarantee. Шёл / ехал describes the outward journey without asserting arrival. For в/на destinations, see Russian prepositions.
Add a route meaning with prefixes. A prefix does not always mean perfective: приходить and приезжать are prefixed imperfectives. Prefixes can mark arrival, departure, entry, and other routes. They do not create aspect pairs by a universal prefix rule: learn the actual verbs, including stem changes such as приехать / приезжать and уехать / уезжать.
A completed event versus repeated events, with the direction and starting point made explicit.
Прийти / приходить is an actual perfective / imperfective pair. Он пришёл вчера. — “He arrived yesterday” (one whole arrival). Он приходил каждый день. — “He came every day” (repeated visits). Приходил can also describe a single past visit, without focusing on the moment of arrival.
Он приехал в Москву вчера.
He arrived in Moscow by vehicle yesterday.
Он приезжает в Москву каждый месяц.
He comes to Moscow by vehicle every month.
Он уехал из Москвы утром.
He left Moscow by vehicle in the morning.
Он уезжает из Москвы каждую пятницу.
He leaves Moscow by vehicle every Friday.
Она пришла домой.
She arrived home on foot.
Она приходит домой в шесть.
She usually comes home at six.
Он вошёл в комнату. / Он входил в комнату тихо.
He entered the room. / He was entering the room quietly. (в-/во-)
Она перешла улицу. / Она переходила улицу каждый день.
She crossed the street. / She crossed the street every day. (пере-)
Apply the same choices when you move something or accompany someone. First decide whether the object moves with you on foot, in a vehicle, or as a person you lead. Then choose one trip (нести / везти / вести) or a habitual/multidirectional action (носить / возить / водить).
Я несу сумку домой.
I'm carrying a bag home on foot.
несу: one direction on foot.
Я везу сумку в машине.
I'm transporting a bag in the car.
везу: one trip by vehicle.
Я веду ребёнка в школу.
I'm leading a child to school on foot.
веду: accompanying and leading a person on foot.
Я везу ребёнка в школу на машине.
I'm taking a child to school by car.
везу: transporting a person in a vehicle.
The thing or person moved is the direct object in the accusative: сумку (from сумка), ребёнка (animate masculine accusative, which looks like the genitive). See the accusative case.
You have seen the journeys, forms, and prefixes. Use this overview to connect them before choosing a practice drill.
Read A for unprefixed movement, B for the route a prefix adds, and C for aspect. The final formula brings these decisions together as a study aid.
Open full-size image (opens in a new tab)Practice the distinction you need. Choose a drill for the decision you just learned, then try the complete exercise collection.
Place motion-verb pairs alongside aspect, prefixes, tense, and sentence structure in the complete Russian grammar guide.