Infinitive (imperfective): приходи́ть — "to arrive / come (on foot), habitually or repeatedly" Infinitive (perfective): прийти́ — "to arrive / come (on foot), as a single completed event" Type: a prefixed pair built on the идти́ / ходи́ть base, with the prefix при- ("arrival, coming up to")
This pair is where the verbs-of-motion system and the aspect system meet, and it rewards careful study. Take the base pair идти́ (unidirectional) / ходи́ть (multidirectional) and add a prefix, and something elegant happens: prefix + multidirectional (ходи́ть) → imperfective (приходи́ть), while prefix + unidirectional (идти́) → perfective (прийти́). The unidirectional member, with its "one trip, one direction" meaning, lends itself naturally to the perfective "one completed arrival." The one form that surprises every learner is the future of прийти́: although the infinitive is spelled прийти́ (with й), the future stem is прид-, so it conjugates приду́, придёшь, приду́т — no й at all. Master that, and the rest follows.
Present tense — приходи́ть only
Only the imperfective приходи́ть has a present tense (the perfective прийти́, like all perfectives, has no present; its corresponding forms are the future, shown in the next section). приходи́ть inherits the conjugation of ходи́ть exactly, including the д → ж mutation in the 1sg and the stress retreat after it.
| Person | приходи́ть (imperfective) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| я | прихожу́ | д → ж, end-stressed |
| ты | прихо́дишь | plain д; stress retreats to -хо́- |
| он / она́ / оно́ | прихо́дит | — |
| мы | прихо́дим | — |
| вы | прихо́дите | — |
| они́ | прихо́дят | 2nd-conj. -ят ending |
Since приходи́ть is the imperfective, it describes repeated, habitual, or ongoing arrivals — "comes regularly," "keeps coming," "is in the habit of arriving."
Почтальо́н прихо́дит ка́ждый день в три часа́.
The postman comes every day at three. — приходи́ть, a regular habit (imperfective); note прихо́дит with stress on -хо́-.
Я прихожу́ на рабо́ту в де́вять.
I get to work at nine. — 1sg прихожу́ (д→ж, end-stress); a habitual arrival.
К нам ча́сто прихо́дят го́сти.
We often have guests (people often come to us). — прихо́дят, the -ят ending; repeated comings.
Past tense — two different pasts
The two members have completely different past stems, because приходи́ть inherits the regular ходи́ть past, while прийти́ inherits the suppletive идти́ past on the ш- root (with the prefix at the front). Get both into your ear.
| Gender / number | приходи́ть (impf, regular) | прийти́ (pf, suppletive ш-root) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | приходи́л | пришёл |
| feminine | приходи́ла | пришла́ |
| neuter | приходи́ло | пришло́ |
| plural | приходи́ли | пришли́ |
Note the perfective past: masculine пришёл has the ё (pronounced "prishol"), then the other three drop it and shift the stress to the ending — пришла́, пришло́, пришли́. There is no trace of the -йд-/-ид- stem in the past; you simply learn пришёл/пришла́/пришло́/пришли́ as the past of прийти́. The aspect contrast is the usual one: приходи́л = "used to come / would come" (a repeated past habit), пришёл = "came / arrived" (one completed arrival, and crucially — and is now here).
Он пришёл во́время и сел за стол.
He arrived on time and sat down at the table. — perfective пришёл: a single completed arrival; he got there.
Она́ пришла́ по́здно, все уже́ спа́ли.
She got home late; everyone was already asleep. — feminine пришла́ (end-stress, no ё).
В де́тстве к нам ча́сто приходи́л де́душка.
When I was little, Grandpa often came over. — приходи́л, a repeated past habit (imperfective).
Future tense — the прид- stem (no й!)
This is the headline form. The perfective прийти́ builds a simple future on the stem прид- — and the spelling й of the infinitive disappears entirely. The imperfective приходи́ть builds the ordinary compound future with бу́ду.
| Person | прийти́ → simple future (perfective) | приходи́ть → бу́ду + inf. (imperfective) |
|---|---|---|
| я | приду́ | бу́ду приходи́ть |
| ты | придёшь | бу́дешь приходи́ть |
| он / она́ / оно́ | придёт | бу́дет приходи́ть |
| мы | придём | бу́дем приходи́ть |
| вы | придёте | бу́дете приходи́ть |
| они́ | приду́т | бу́дут приходи́ть |
Study the perfective column. The endings are exactly those of идти́ in the present (иду́, идёшь, идёт, идём, идёте, иду́т) with при- in front and the spelling collapsed to прид-: приду́, придёшь, придёт, придём, придёте, приду́т. Note the ё in придёшь/придёт/придём/придёте — always stressed. The single most common beginner error is to keep the й of the infinitive and produce a non-existent прийду́; the correct form has *no й: приду́.
Я приду́ за́втра в семь.
I'll come tomorrow at seven. — perfective simple future приду́ (stem прид-, NO й): a single planned arrival.
Во ско́лько ты придёшь?
What time will you come/arrive? — придёшь with stressed ё.
Они́ приду́т, как то́лько освободя́тся.
They'll come as soon as they're free. — приду́т, the -ут ending; one completed future arrival.
Тепе́рь я бу́ду приходи́ть к вам ка́ждую неде́лю.
From now on I'll come to you every week. — бу́ду приходи́ть: a repeated future habit (imperfective compound future).
Imperative
| Addressee | прийти́ (pf) | приходи́ть (impf) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | приди́ | приходи́ |
| вы (formal / plural) | приди́те | приходи́те |
A meaningful aspect split lives here. The imperfective приходи́(те) is the warm, open invitation — "do come / come round" — and it is the form for negated commands ("don't come"). The perfective приди́(те) is more pointed: "make sure you come / be there" for one specific occasion.
Приходи́те в го́сти, бу́дем ра́ды!
Come visit us, we'd be glad to have you! — imperfective приходи́те: a warm, open invitation.
Приди́ во́время, э́то ва́жно.
Make sure you come on time, it's important. — perfective приди́: one specific occasion.
Не приходи́ так по́здно.
Don't come so late. — negated commands take the imperfective приходи́.
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | приходи́ть (impf) | прийти́ (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle | приходя́щий "(one) coming" | — (perfectives have none) |
| past active participle | приходи́вший | прише́дший |
| verbal adverb | приходя́ "while coming / on arriving" | придя́ "having arrived" |
The perfective verbal adverb придя́ ("having arrived / on arriving") is worth knowing — it neatly compresses a "when I/he/they arrived…" clause: Придя́ домо́й, она́ сра́зу легла́ спать "Having got home, she went straight to bed." Note the past active participle прише́дший uses the same ш-root as the past tense. These are largely (literary / written).
Придя́ на вокза́л, мы по́няли, что по́езд уже́ ушёл.
When we got to the station, we realised the train had already left. — verbal adverb придя́, compressing a 'when we arrived' clause.
Key uses & collocations
1. Direction: куда́ (в/на + accusative) and к + dative for people
You arrive at a place with в/на + accusative (the destination case), and you come to a person's place / up to someone with к + dative. This is the standard motion-destination marking; the wider system is on the prefixed motion overview page.
Приди́ ко мне по́сле уро́ков.
Come to my place after class. — к + dative (ко мне) for 'to someone's place'.
Мы пришли́ в теа́тр за полчаса́ до нача́ла.
We got to the theatre half an hour before the start. — в + accusative (в теа́тр) for the destination.
2. Where прийти́ sits among the при- arrival verbs
The prefix при- marks arrival across the motion system: on foot прийти́ / приходи́ть, by vehicle прие́хать / приезжа́ть, by air прилете́ть / прилета́ть. They all share the "coming and being here now" sense. The full при- family and its mirror-image leaving verbs (у-/уйти́) are mapped on the arrive / leave prefixes page. The unprefixed base pair is on the идти́ / ходи́ть page.
Го́сти прие́хали на маши́не, а мы пришли́ пешко́м.
The guests came by car, and we came on foot. — прие́хать (by vehicle) vs прийти́ (on foot).
3. Figurative прийти́ — coming to ideas, conclusions, states
прийти́ extends to mental and abstract "arrivals," in fixed phrases: прийти́ к вы́воду "to come to a conclusion," прийти́ в себя́ "to come to / regain consciousness," прийти́ на по́мощь "to come to the rescue," в го́лову прихо́дит мысль "a thought occurs (comes into one's head)."
Мы пришли́ к вы́воду, что на́до подожда́ть.
We came to the conclusion that we should wait. — figurative прийти́ к вы́воду = 'reach a conclusion'.
Ему́ в го́лову пришла́ отли́чная иде́я.
A great idea came to him. — пришла́ + в го́лову, the fixed 'an idea came (into one's head)' phrase.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я прийду́ за́втра.
Incorrect — the future stem drops the й of the infinitive: приду́, not 'прийду́'. The infinitive is прийти́, but the future is приду́ / придёшь / приду́т.
✅ Я приду́ за́втра.
I'll come tomorrow.
❌ Я приходи́ть за́втра. / Я бу́ду прийти́.
Two errors — for one planned arrival use the perfective simple future приду́ (no бу́ду, no infinitive). бу́ду pairs only with an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive.
✅ Я приду́ за́втра. / Я бу́ду приходи́ть ка́ждый день.
I'll come tomorrow. / I'll come every day.
❌ Вчера́ он пришёл у́тром и помо́г, а пото́м ушёл. (using пришёл for a there-and-back visit)
Aspect slip — if he came and then left, the morning visit is annulled, so use the imperfective приходи́л: 'он приходи́л у́тром'. пришёл implies he's still here.
✅ Он приходи́л у́тром и помо́г.
He came over in the morning and helped.
❌ Прийди́ во́время! (imperative)
Spelling error — the imperative also drops the й: приди́, not 'прийди́'. (Same stem as the future прид-.)
✅ Приди́ во́время!
Come on time!
❌ Она́ пришёл по́здно. / Они́ пришёл.
Agreement error — the past agrees in gender/number: feminine пришла́, plural пришли́. пришёл is masculine singular only.
✅ Она́ пришла́ по́здно. Они́ пришли́ вме́сте.
She came late. They arrived together.
Key Takeaways
- prefix + direction = aspect: при- + multidirectional ходи́ть → imperfective приходи́ть (habitual); при- + unidirectional идти́ → perfective прийти́ (one completed arrival).
- Present (приходи́ть only): прихожу́ (д→ж) / прихо́дишь / прихо́дит / прихо́дим / прихо́дите / прихо́дят.
- Future of прийти́ — the trap: the infinitive is прийти́ (with й), but the simple future drops the й: приду́ / придёшь / придёт / придём / придёте / приду́т (never прийду́). Imperfective future is the compound *бу́ду приходи́ть.
- Past: suppletive ш-root for the perfective — пришёл / пришла́ / пришло́ / пришли́ (only пришёл has ё); regular приходи́л for the imperfective.
- пришёл = "came and is here now"; a there-and-back visit switches to imperfective приходи́л.
- Imperative: приди́ / приди́те (perfective, drops й) vs приходи́ / приходи́те (imperfective, invitations and negated commands).
- Government: destination в/на + accusative (a place), к + dative (a person). Figurative: прийти́ к вы́воду, прийти́ в себя́.
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- Prefixed Verbs of Motion: How the System WorksB1 — The second half of the motion system. Adding a directional prefix (при-, у-, в-, вы-, под-, от-, до-, пере-, про-, за-, об-) does two things at once: it specifies a spatial direction AND converts the verb into an ordinary aspect pair. Prefix + UNIDIRECTIONAL stem = PERFECTIVE (прийти́ 'arrive'); prefix + MULTIDIRECTIONAL stem = its IMPERFECTIVE partner (приходи́ть). The unidirectional/multidirectional contrast is replaced by perfective/imperfective — the structural pivot that makes the whole prefixed system tractable.
- Motion Prefixes: При- (Arrive) and У- (Leave)B1 — The first and most frequent pair of directional prefixes. ПРИ- marks arrival — motion that ends at a destination, so the subject is now here (Он прие́хал в Москву́). У- marks departure into absence — the subject is now gone (Она́ уе́хала в Москву́). Each builds an ordinary aspect pair (прийти́/приходи́ть, уйти́/уходи́ть) and pairs with its own prepositions: при- with destinations (в/на + acc, к + dat), у- with sources (из/с + gen, от + dat-person).
- Идти / Ходить (to go on foot)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the motion pair идти́ (unidirectional) / ходи́ть (multidirectional), 'to go on foot'. Full paradigms side by side — иду́/идёшь, the suppletive past шёл/шла/шло/шли, хожу́/хо́дишь/хо́дят — the one-trip vs habitual/round-trip contrast, and the perfective пойти́.
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Aspect is the spine of the Russian verb: nearly every verb belongs to a pair — imperfective (process, repetition, general fact) and perfective (a single completed whole with a result). This page explains the pair, the consequences for the tense system (perfectives have no present), and why you must decide 'process or result?' before you even pick a tense.
- 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.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: PrefixationA2 — The commonest way the perfective is built: adding a prefix to an imperfective base. With a 'pure' perfectivizing prefix (про-, на-, с-, по-…) the meaning stays the same and only completion is added — but the prefix is lexically fixed and must be memorized per verb. Most other prefixes change the meaning and build a brand-new verb.