English has one verb, "go", where Russian — for travel on foot — keeps three in play at once: идти́, ходи́ть, and пойти́. They are not synonyms you can swap. Two of them (идти́, ходи́ть) are imperfective and split by direction of travel; the third (пойти́) is perfective and marks setting off. This is the quick decision guide: one test, a lookup table, and six worked cases. For the imperfective pair on its own, see идти́ vs ходи́ть and the broader unidirectional vs multidirectional guide; for пойти́ specifically, see пойти́ and the inceptive по-.
The one test
For any "go on foot" sentence, ask the questions in order and stop at the first "yes":
- Am I setting off — will go, or went off (a single completed trip)? → пойти́ (perfective): пойду́, пошёл.
- Is it one trip, one direction, happening now or planned for soon? → идти́ (unidirectional): иду́, идёт.
- Is it a habit, a round trip, or general walking? → ходи́ть (multidirectional): хожу́, хо́дит.
| Verb | Aspect / type | Use it for… | Key forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| идти́ | imperfective, unidirectional | one trip in progress now; a single planned trip soon | иду́, идёшь, идёт; шёл/шла |
| ходи́ть | imperfective, multidirectional | habit, repeated trips, round trip (there-and-back), general ability | хожу́, хо́дишь, хо́дит; ходи́л |
| пойти́ | perfective, inceptive | set off — "I'll go" (future), "he went off" (past), "let's go!" | пойду́, пойдёшь; пошёл/пошла́/пошли́ |
Cases 1–2: one trip now vs a habit (идти́ vs ходи́ть)
This is the split English speakers stumble on, because "I go to school" can mean either "I'm on my way right now" or "I attend school".
One trip, in progress now → иду́.
Я иду́ в шко́лу, бу́ду че́рез де́сять мину́т.
I'm on my way to school, I'll be there in ten minutes. — one trip in progress → иду́.
A habit, every day → хожу́. There is no single arrow to point at — it is a repeated pattern.
Я хожу́ в шко́лу ка́ждый день, кро́ме воскресе́нья.
I go to school every day except Sunday. — habit → хожу́.
Case 3: a single planned trip soon → идти́
For a settled near-future plan on foot, Russian uses the present-tense идти́, exactly as English uses "I'm going" for a fixed plan ("Tomorrow I'm going to the theatre"). It is still one trip in one direction, just scheduled rather than underway.
За́втра ве́чером я иду́ в теа́тр — биле́ты уже́ куплены́.
Tomorrow evening I'm going to the theatre — the tickets are already bought. — one planned trip → иду́.
Case 4: the round-trip past → ходи́ть
The plain English "I went to X yesterday" is almost always ходи́л in Russian, because the everyday picture of a finished outing is there and back, not frozen mid-walk. Reserve unidirectional шёл ("I was on my way / walking along") for a moment that sets the scene for something else.
Вчера́ я ходи́л в кино́ — фильм так себе́.
Yesterday I went to the cinema — the film was so-so. — went and came back, a round trip → ходи́л.
Case 5: "I'll go" and "he went off" → пойти́
For a single trip in the future or for the moment someone set off in the past, use perfective пойти́. This is the everyday way to say "I'll go" — far more common than trying to press идти́ into the future.
По́сле рабо́ты я пойду́ в спортза́л.
After work I'll go to the gym. — a single future trip → пойду́.
Он бы́стро оде́лся и пошёл на рабо́ту.
He got dressed quickly and set off for work. — the moment of setting off → пошёл.
Case 6: "Let's go!" → пошли́ / пойдём
The exhortation "let's go!" uses пойти́ too — either the past-form Пошли́! (informal, very common) or the future Пойдём! Both mean "let's set off".
Пошли́! А то опозда́ем на по́езд.
Let's go! Otherwise we'll miss the train. — exhortation 'let's set off' → пошли́.
The distinguishing insight: direction vs setting-off
The trap is treating all three as one "go" and picking by tense. They actually answer two different questions. идти́ vs ходи́ть is a question of shape — one arrow (идти́) or a loop/habit (ходи́ть) — and both are imperfective. пойти́ answers a different question entirely: it is the perfective that captures the start of one trip, which is why it owns the future ("I'll go") and the "set off" past. So decide in two steps: first, is this a single completed/future trip (→ пойти́)? If not, is the on-foot motion one directed trip (→ идти́) or a habit/round trip (→ ходи́ть)?
Common Mistakes
❌ Я иду́ в спортза́л три ра́за в неде́лю.
Incorrect — 'three times a week' is a habit, not one trip in progress. Use multidirectional хожу́.
✅ Я хожу́ в спортза́л три ра́за в неде́лю.
I go to the gym three times a week. — habit → хожу́.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду идти́ в теа́тр.
Incorrect — Russian doesn't build the future with бу́ду + идти́ here. Use the present иду́ for a fixed plan, or perfective пойду́.
✅ За́втра я иду́ в теа́тр.
Tomorrow I'm going to the theatre. — settled plan → present иду́.
❌ Вчера́ я шёл в кино́ и хорошо́ провёл вре́мя.
Incorrect for an ordinary finished outing — шёл freezes you mid-walk. A there-and-back trip needs ходи́л.
✅ Вчера́ я ходи́л в кино́ и хорошо́ провёл вре́мя.
Yesterday I went to the cinema and had a good time. — round trip → ходи́л.
❌ По́сле рабо́ты я иду́ в магази́н, куплю́ молоко́.
Slightly off — for a single future errand the natural choice is perfective пойду́; иду́ reads as 'on my way right now'.
✅ По́сле рабо́ты я пойду́ в магази́н и куплю́ молоко́.
After work I'll go to the shop and buy milk. — single future trip → пойду́.
Key Takeaways
- One test, in order: setting off / will go / went off → пойти́ (пойду́, пошёл); one trip now or planned → идти́ (иду́); habit / round trip / general → ходи́ть (хожу́).
- идти́ vs ходи́ть is about direction (one arrow vs a loop) — both imperfective. пойти́ is the perfective for the start of a single trip.
- "I'll go" = пойду́, not бу́ду идти́. "He went off" = пошёл. "Let's go!" = Пошли́! / Пойдём!
- The classic slip: иду́ for a habit — say хожу́ for "every day / three times a week".
- The past trap: ordinary "I went to X" (and came back) = ходи́л; шёл = "I was on my way" at a moment.
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- Идти vs Ходить (Going on Foot)A2 — The single most frequent motion pair in Russian. ИДТИ́ (unidirectional) is a trip on foot in progress toward one goal — Я иду́ домо́й ('I'm on my way home') — and covers the planned near future (За́втра я иду́ в теа́тр). ХОДИ́ТЬ (multidirectional) covers habits, round trips, general walking ability, and 'attend' — Я хожу́ в спортза́л три ра́за в неде́лю. Plus the idioms идёт carries: Дождь идёт, Вре́мя идёт, Фильм идёт.
- Пойти and the Inceptive По- (Setting Off)A2 — The prefix по- on a unidirectional motion verb means 'set off, start going' — and ПОЙТИ́ (set off on foot) / ПОЕ́ХАТЬ (set off by vehicle) are the everyday way Russian says 'I'll go' and 'he went off'. Future пойду́…пойду́т, past пошёл/пошла́/пошли́, and the exhortations Пошли́! / Пойдём! / Пое́хали! ('Let's go!'). The insight English speakers miss: по- + unidirectional is THE go-to perfective for a single past or future trip, far more frequent than the spatial prefixes.
- Идти vs Ходить (and the Motion-Verb Choice)A2 — A decision guide for the unidirectional/multidirectional split across all the basic motion pairs. One question settles it: is this ONE trip in a single direction (now or planned) → идти́ / е́хать / лечу́, or REPEATED, round-trip, or general motion → ходи́ть / е́здить / лета́ю? Covers 'going to school now' (иду́) vs 'go every day' (хожу́), the round-trip past (ходи́л = went and came back) vs шёл (was on the way), flying to Paris tomorrow (лечу́) vs often fly (лета́ю), and general truths (пти́цы лета́ют, уме́ю пла́вать).