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Verbs of Motion
Verbs of motion (also referred to as VoM) are a distinct class of verbs found in several Slavic languages. Due to the extensive semantic information they contain, Russian verbs of motion pose difficulties for non-native learners at all levels of study. Unprefixed verbs of motion, which are all imperfective, divide into pairs based on the direction of the movement (uni- or multidirectional—sometimes called determinate/indeterminate or definite/indefinite). As opposed to a verb-framed language, in which path is encoded in the verb, but manner of motion typically is expressed with complements, Russian is a satellite language, meaning that these concepts are encoded in both the root of the verb and the particles associated with it, satellites. Thus, the roots of motion verbs convey the lexical information of manner of movement, e.g. walking, crawling, running, whereas prefixes denote path, e.g. motion in and out of space. The roots also distinguish between means of conveyance, e.g. by transport or by one’s own power, and, in transitive verbs, the object or person being transported. The information below provides an outline of the formation and basic usage of unprefixed and prefixed verbs of motion.

Unprefixed Verbs of Motion:

This table contains 14 commonly-accepted pairs of Russian verbs of motion, adapted from Muravyova.

Directionality

1. Unidirectional verbs of motion describe motion in progress in one direction, e.g: 1. We are headed to the library. Мы идём в библиотеку.

2. I was on my way to work. Я шла на работу.

3. Birds fly south in autumn. Птицы летят на юг осенью.

2. Multidirectional verbs of motion describe: 1. General motion, referring to ability or habitual motion, without reference to direction or destination, e.g.: 1. The child has been walking for six months. Ребёнка ходит шесть месяцев.

2. Birds fly, fish swim, and dogs walk. Птицы летают, рыбы плавают, и собаки ходят.

2. Movement in various directions, e.g.: 1. We walked around the city all day. Мы ходили по городу весь день.

3. Repetition of completed trips, e.g.: 1. She goes the supermarket every week. Она ходит в супермаркет каждую неделю.

4. In the past tense, a single completed round trip, e.g.: 1. I went to Russia (and returned) last year. В прошлом году я ездил в Россию.

Unidirectional Perfectives with ПО-:

The addition of the prefix по- to a unidirectional verb of motion makes the verb perfective, denoting the beginning of a movement, i.e. 'setting out'. These perfectives imply that the agent has not yet returned at the moment of speech, e.g.,

1. He went to a friend's place (and has not returned). Он пошёл к другу. Compare with:

2. He went to a friend's place (and has returned). Он ходил к другу.

3. He was on his way to a friend’s place. Он шёл к другу.

Going vs. Taking: Three pairs of motion verbs generally refer to ‘taking’, ‘leading’ with additional lexical information on manner of motion and object of transport encoded in the verb stem. These are нести/носить, вести/водить, and везти/возить. See below for the specific information on manner and object of transport:

1. нести/носить – ‘to take (on foot), carry’ 1. He carries a briefcase. Он носит портфель.

2. She is taking her assignment to class. Она несёт домашние задание на занятия.

2. вести/водить – ‘to take, lead (people or animals)’; ‘to drive (a vehicle)’ 1. The teacher was taking the children to a field trip. Учитель вёл школьников на экскурсию

2. She took her friend to the theatre. Она водила свою подругу в театр.

3. She knows how to drive a car. Она умеет водить машину.

3. везти/возить – ‘to take, drive, convey by vehicle’ 1. She is wheeling her grandmother in a wheelchair. Она везёт бабушку в инвалидном кресле.

2. Поезд возил пассажиров в Англию. The train took the passengers to England (and back).

Prefixed Verbs of Motion:

Verbs of motion combine with prefixes to form new aspectual pairs, which lose the distinction of directionality, but gain spatial or temporal meanings. The unidirectional verb serves as the base for the perfective, and the multidirectional as the base for the imperfective. In addition to the meanings conveyed by the prefix and the simplex motion verb, prepositional phrases also contribute to the expression of path in Russian. Thus, it is important to consider the whole verb phrase when examining verbs of motion.

In some verbs of motion, adding a prefix requires a different stem shape:

1. идти → -йти ‘go (on foot)’ 1. For prefixes ending in a consonant, an -o- is added in all forms, e.g.: войти.

2. Й is lost in the non-past conjugated forms of прийти, e.g.: приду ‘I come’.

2. ездить → -езжать ‘go (by conveyance)’ For prefixes ending in a consonant, a hard sign (ъ) is added before –ехать and –езжать, e.g.: въезжать ‘enter (by conveyance)’.

3. бéгать → бегáть ‘run’ The formation of the verb remains the same, but stress shifts from the stem to the endings, e.g.: отбегáть ‘run away’.

4. плáвать → плывáть ‘swim’ The vowel in the root changes to -ы- and the stress shifts to the endings.

5. In perfective verbs with the prefix вы-, the prefix is stressed in all forms, e.g. вы́йдешь ‘go out’.

See below for a table the prefixes, their primary meanings, and the prepositions that accompany them, adapted from Muravyova. Several examples are taken directly or modified from Muravyova.

Idiomatic Uses:

The uni- and multidirectional distinction rarely figures into the metaphorical and idiomatic use of motion verbs, because such phrases typically call for one or the other verb. See below for examples: