Remember this post about useful Russian driving and road rage words?

Can you believe it, уже конец июня (it’s the end of June already)! Как быстро время летит! (How time flies!) For many of our US readers, next week will be spent travelling and celebrating and then travelling some more. Which means getting delayed or stuck in traffic is virtually unavoidable in the next few days. Which, in turn, means a great opportunity to practice глаголы движения (verbs of motion)!

Let’s concentrate on just 3 of them this time – ходить/идти (to walk), ездить/ехать (to ride), and летать/лететь (to fly).

First thing first, Russian language is very particular when it comes to choosing which verb of motion to use. In English we can say stuff like “I’m going to Bahamas this weekend” or “I’m going to work in my husband’s car since mine is still in the shop” or “I’m just going over to the neighbors”. In Russian we have to use a different verb for each mode of transportation, in this case – лечу, еду, иду.

Next up are conjugation tables. You have to memorize them. There’s no way around it, I’m afraid. If you do know a way, очень прошу, пожалуйста (pretty please) let us all know! The good news is you now have something to occupy yourself with while waiting for your flight.MasterRussian.com has conjugation tables for hundreds of Russian verbs.

And now it’s time for the most challenging part. Which verb from each pair to use; whether to go with the indeterminate ходить, ездить, летать or opt for the determinate идти, ехать, лететь.

The rule of thumb is if in English you would use Present Continuous, then use determinate verbs of motion; use indeterminate verbs for when you’d use Present Simple in English.

Let’s practice:

На День Независимости я лечу к бабушке в Айову – This Independence Day I am flying to Grandma in Iowa
На День Независимости я летаю к бабушке в Айову – For Independence Day I fly to Grandma in Iowa. (Small change, big consequences – now we know not to waste time inviting you to our annual 4th of July pool parties)

В выходные я еду на пляж – On the weekend I am going to the beach (the word ехать means you are getting there by some form of transport other than a plane or your own two feet; it can mean both you are driving and you are riding)
В выходные я езжу на пляж – I go to the beach on weekends

Я иду к соседке за солью  – I am going to the neighbor to get salt
Я хожу к соседке за солью  – I go to the neighbor to get salt (as opposed to, say, a grocery store)

Now choose the correct verb to use in each sentence

Я лечу/летаю в Москву – I am going to Moscow
Я еду/езжу в торговый центр  – I am going to a mall
Я иду/хожу к соседям на вечеринку – I am going to my neighbors’ party

Я лечу/летаю в Россию каждый год – I go to Russia every year
Я еду/езжу в магазины каждый выходной – Every weekend I go to stores
Я часто иду/хожу в гости к соседям – I frequently go visit the neighbors

If at this point your flight is still delayed or you are in a stand-still traffic, continue practicing. If you can’t come up with an entire sentence in Russian, say it in English (or your native language) replacing only the verb with an appropriate Russian verb of motion.

I лечу home. But really, I хожу back and forth along the terminal waiting for my flight. Every year I swear not летать on holidays!

I еду to see my in-laws. Ok, I am not exactly еду, but mostly crawling through this bumper-to-bumper traffic. I езжу on this road a lot, but have never seen traffic like this before.

Your turn now. Что вы делаете в эти выходные? (What are you doing this weekend?) Are we there yet?