Verbs that show motion are called Verbs of Motion. We suggest you to find list of Russian motion verbs also. In between the list of verbs of motion, you will find the number one list words are Идти and Ходить. Both Идти and Ходить have a same meaning which are go/walk by foot. What makes them different Идти is a part of Irregular Verbs, meanwhile Ходить is a part of Regular Verbs.
Идти as a Irregular verbs meaning the activity that is done in one direction. While, xодить as a Regular verbs meaning the activity that is done in repetition, and more than one direction.
There are three basic rules to determine which one to choose Идти or Ходить:
1). Direction – if it’s multidirection use Ходить, if it’s unidirection use Идти
- Я часто хожу в библиотеке
(ya chasto khozhu ve biblioteke)
I often go to the library
this means that this trip involves coming back from the library
- Я иду в библиотеке
(ya idu ve biblioteke)
I’m going to the library
this means you’re only talking about one way trip
- каждый день идёт дождь
(kazhdyi djyen’ idyot dozhd’)
It rains everyday
rain only goes down so it’s unidirection
*Ходить can be used for a single round trip only in the past tense.
2). Movement – if there is no movement, use the multidrectional verb Ходить
- Вчера Мы Никуда не ходили
(Vchera My Nikuda ne hodili)
Yesterday we didn’t go anywhere - Не ходите на ето ресторан
(Ne hodite na eto restoran)
Don’t go to that restaurant
3). Number of directions – if the number of direction is insignificant, use the multidirectional verb Ходить
- мы ходили по городу
(My hodili po gorodu)
We walked around the town
Because Ходить is a regular verbs, means the activity that is done in repetition. That is why in mutidirectional verbs you will find adverbs of frequency, such as :
- всегда = always
- часто = often
- иногда = sometimes
- обычно = usually
- каждый день = everyday
Example :
- каждый день я хожу в театр
(kazhdiy dyen ya khozhu ve teatr)
everyday I go to the theatre
Sequences : As a verbs, Verbs of Motion can be differ depend on the sequence of the time. While present tense allows you to tell stories about something that currently happening, past tense let you tell stories about events that have already happened. We suggest that you find out more about past tense of Russian verbs. We also already learn about conjugation in Russian Language, because of идти is irregular verbs and ходить is regular verbs that’s why they has their own conjugation.
a. Present Tense
[table][tr][th][/th] [th]идти[/th] [th]ходить[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]я – I[/td] [td]иду[/td] [td]хожу[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]ты – you[/td] [td]идёшь[/td] [td]ходишь[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]он, она – he,she[/td] [td]идёт[/td] [td]ходит[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]мы – we[/td] [td]идём[/td] [td]ходим[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]вы – you[/td] [td]идёте[/td] [td]ходите[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]они – they[/td] [td]идут[/td] [td]ходят[/td][/tr][/table]
b. Past Tense
[table][tr][th][/th] [th]идти[/th] [th]ходи́ть[/th][/tr][tr][td]masculine (я/ты/он)[/td] [td]шёл[/td] [td]ходи́л[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]feminine (я/ты/она́)[/td] [td]шла́[/td] [td]ходи́ла[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]neuter (оно́)[/td] [td] шлo[/td] [td]ходи́ло[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]plural[/td] [td]шли́[/td] [td]ходи́ли[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Example :
- Мы шли в магазин пешком
(My shli v magazin peshkom)
We were going to the store on foot - Вчера Онa ходилa в парке
(Vchera Ona hodila v parke)
Yesterday she went to the park
Those are a closer look of motion Russian verbs, Идти and Ходить. And, there are still so many other Russian verbs of motion to learn. For instance Russian verbs of motion without prefixes. Keep learning and memorizing the verbs of motion cause you’ll never know how much it will help you in the future!