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Russian Verbs of Motion

Russian verbs of motion are used to describe actions of movement.

In English, as in Russian, verbs of motion mean: go, run, climb, fly etc.

Each Russian motion verb includes:

- two forms of imperfective aspect: Indefinite and Definite.

Let's analyze the verb ходи́ть (to go on foot)

Ходи́ть has one perfective and two imperfective forms.

Note: Conjugation rules of Present Tense cannot be applied to Verbs of Motion. You have to memorize them.

Both Imperfective forms have their own conjugations in Present Tense.
Perfective aspect does't have a conjugation in Present Tense.

Imperfective - Definite

Imperfective (Definite) form describes the movements in one direction (Unidirectional)

USAGE OF IMPERFECTIVE (DEFINITE) FORM
Movement	Example
Directional movement at the moment	Ма́ша идёт в шко́лу сейча́с (Masha is going to school now)
Asking about the movement at the moment	Куда́ Ма́ша сейчас идёт? (Where is Masha going now?)
Command/order to move	Ма́ша! Иди́ в шко́лу! (Masha! Go to school!)

Imperfective (Indefinite) form describes the movements in more than one directions (Multidirectional)

USAGE OF IMPERFECTIVE (INDEFINITE) FORM
Movement	Example
Habitual or repeated	Ма́ша хо́дит в шко́лу ка́ждый день (Masha goes to school every day)
Uncoordinated	Ма́ша хо́дит по Москве́ (Masha goes along Moscow)
Going and returning	Вчера́ Ма́ша ходи́ла в кино́. (Yesterday Masha went to the cinema)
Skill or habit	Ма́ша хо́дит бы́стро (Masha walks fast)

Tip: The Imperfective (indefinite) form is commonly used with adverbs:

Related:

Russian conjugated verbs