Russian · Chapter 7 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Verbs of motion: идти and ходить
Russian splits going by direction, by vehicle and by one-way or round trip, the point that outlasts even aspect.
The short version
A habit takes ходить, not идти
идти is one trip in one direction, usually happening now. ходить covers habits, round trips and wandering about. So I am on my way to school is ya idu v shkolu, but I go to school every day is ya khozhu v shkolu kazhdyy den.
Ya khozhu v shkolu kazhdyy den.
I went to the cinema is a round trip
A finished trip there and back takes the multidirectional past, ходил, not шёл. шёл sets a scene: I was on my way when something happened. And if you went by car, bus or train, switch verbs entirely: ездил, because идти and ходить only ever mean on foot.
Vchera ya khodil v kino.
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