http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT9DcvfBopg

Are you confused by the Russian verbs of motion? When to use which and what verbal aspect to choose? I found that the best way of figuring out the correct usage of verbs of motion is to practice-practice-practice.

So let’s practice using the pair of verbs бегать and бежать, both meaning “to run”. To make it a bit more fun, we’ll read a story called Федорино горе (Fedora’s Grief). Every Russian child is familiar with this story. It is ever-popular and much beloved tale by the Russian Dr. Seuss, Корней Иванович Чуковский (Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky)..

In this story, вся посуда и кухонная утварь (all the dishes and kitchen utensils) run away from нерадивая (neglectful), неопрятная (untidy), and ленивая (lazy) Fedora because she никогда не убирает в доме (never cleans the house). I suppose you can see why Russian parents choose this story to read to their children.

To find full text of this story, search for “Федорино горе текст”. I really like this scan of an old paperback, mostly because I once had this very edition of the book. By the way, let me know if an audio of me reading this book would be helpful to you. Ok, the video is ready.

The key point to keep in mind when figuring out whether to choose бегать or бежать is whether the motion you are describing is directed or not.

So let’s read through the story, find all the instances of using these verbs of motion and figure out why they were used in each particular case. Use this conjugation table as a handy reference.

Но, как чёрная железная нога,
Побежала, поскакала кочерга.

Here, the кочерга (poke iron) is said to побежала (ran). Why not use the past tense of бегать – бегала here?

Because the poke iron runs in the same direction as all the other objects in the story (which is made clear in the first few lines). So when you talk about several objects or, most likely in real life, people, running in one direction, you need to use бежать:

Заканчивай обед и побежали на заседание, а то опоздаем – Wrap up your lunch and let’s run to the meeting or we’ll be late.
Участники забега должны были бежать по нашей улице – Runners were supposed to run along our street.
Бежим отсюда! – Let’s run away from here!

И кастрюля на бегу
Закричала утюгу:
“Я бегу, бегу, бегу,
Удержаться не могу!”

The pot here is using the first person singular present tense form of бежать. Why?

Just like in the example above, the answer is in the direction of the movement. Pots, pans, knives, etc in the story are all running in the same direction, away from Fedora’s dirty house. Some examples from real life might be:

Они бегут и я с ними бегу – They are running and I am with them.
Они бегут, бегут, бегут, бегут, а он им светит – They are running, running, running, running, and it lights up for them. This is a line from an old song about a traffic light. Even though traffic moves in different directions on an intersection, a traffic light always faces (and lights up for) traffic that flows in the same direction.

Вот и чайник за кофейником бежит…

In this case, the movement in the same direction is explicitly stated since “a tea-kettle is running after the coffee pot”.

In fact, since every single object in the story runs in the same direction, бежать is used extensively here – утюги бегут (irons are running), и бежит сковорода (and the skillet is running), коты побежали (cats ran).

Самоварище сидит
И товарищам кричит:
“Уходите, бегите, спасайтеся!”

The big самовар (samovar) shouts a command to his comrades and uses the plural command form of бежать. Why? Because the command implicitly tells everyone to move in one direction.

Бегите домой и скажите родителям, что вернётесь поздно – Run home and tell your parents that you will be back late.
Беги быстрей, а то опоздаешь – Run fast or you’ll be late.

Interestingly, if you want to tell someone not to run in a particular direction, you would need to use the form of бегать instead:

Не бегайте вокруг бассейна, здесь скользко – Do not run around the pool; it’s slippery here.
Не бегай на стройку, там опасно – Do not run to the construction site; it’s dangerous there.

Also, if you are are sending someone on an errand, you use the verb сбегай:

Сбегай, купи две буханки хлеба – Run and buy two loaves of bread

Сбегай-ка за сигаретами – Run get cigarette

Подожди, я за ключом сбегаю – Wait, I’ll run and get a key

Back to the story:
Вам ли бегать за воротами
С воробьями желторотыми?

That’s what the cats are asking (rhetorically) the dishes – whether they think they should be running around with birds. Here бегать is used because no direction of movement is specified or implied. Here the process of running is emphasized, not the direction of it or its end goal.

Я уже месяц бегаю по инстанциям, собираю документы – I’ve been running from one authority to another for a whole month, collecting documents.
Я занялся спортом, бегаю по утрам – I’ve started to work out; now I run in the mornings.

And now it’s your turn:

Can you explain why the form of бежать is used in these lines:

Оттого-то мы от бабы
Убежали, как от жабы

And choose the correct verb for these sentences:

1. Если будешь бегать/бежать каждый день, то через пару месяцев сможешь принять участие в марафоне (If you will run every day, you will be able to participate in a marathon in a couple of months)

2. Извини, говорить не могу, мы бегаем/бежим в кино (Sorry, I can’t chat, we are going to the movies)

3. Не бегай/беги босиком по асфальту! (Do not run barefoot on the pavement!)

4. Как мне сделать, чтобы мой бывший снова за мной бегал/бежал? (What to do to make my ex chase after me once again?)

5. Владимир будет бегать/побежит в следующем забеге (Vladimir will run in the next race)

6. Я увидел, что по кухне во все стороны бегали/побежали тараканы (I saw that cockroaches were running all around the kitchen)

Before you find out the answers, you can watch this video by a “show-group” called Федорино Горе

Answers:

1- бегать
2 – бежим
3 – бегай
4 – бегал
5 – побежит
6 – бегали