If you have learned only that идти́ means "go on foot", you will hit a wall the moment you try to say "I'll go home" or "he went to the shop" — because for a single trip, the natural verb is not идти́ but пойти́ ("set off, start going"). This page covers the prefix по- on the one-direction (unidirectional) motion verbs, which turns "be on the way" into "set off" and gives you the everyday perfective for a single trip's beginning — both in the future and in the past. It is, by a wide margin, the most frequent prefix on a motion verb, and the first one to master.
What по- does: it marks the moment of setting off
Russian motion verbs come in pairs by direction: идти́ (one trip in progress) vs ходи́ть (habits and round trips); see идти́ vs ходи́ть. Both are imperfective, so neither can say "completed the start of a trip". The prefix по- does exactly that. Attached to the unidirectional stem, it produces a perfective verb meaning "to set off / to start going (in one direction)":
- идти́ (be on the way, on foot) → пойти́ (set off / go, on foot)
- е́хать (be on the way, by vehicle) → пое́хать (set off / go, by vehicle)
This is called the inceptive (or ingressive) по-: it does not add a spatial direction like "in" or "out" — it freezes the inception, the instant the trip begins. Because Russian conceives "going somewhere once" primarily as setting off, пойти́ / пое́хать become the normal, all-purpose way to say "go" for a single trip.
The four по- motion verbs you need first
The same inceptive по- attaches to every unidirectional stem. The two essentials are пойти́ (on foot) and пое́хать (by vehicle); the others fill in the manner of motion.
| Unidirectional verb |
| Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| идти́ (on foot) | пойти́ | set off / go (on foot) |
| е́хать (by vehicle) | пое́хать | set off / go (by transport) |
| лете́ть (flying) | полете́ть | set off (by flying), take off |
| бежа́ть (running) | побежа́ть | set off running, dash off |
| плыть (swimming/sailing) | поплы́ть | set off swimming/sailing |
По́сле рабо́ты я пойду́ в спортза́л.
After work I'll go to the gym. (single trip on foot → пойти́)
Ле́том мы полети́м в Испа́нию.
In summer we'll fly to Spain. (полете́ть — set off by air)
Conjugating пойти́ and пое́хать
Both are perfective, so their personal endings are future, not present — "I will set off / I'll go". Memorise the two paradigms; пойти́ has an irregular suppletive past identical to that of идти́, just with the prefix.
| пойти́ (on foot) | пое́хать (by vehicle) | |
|---|---|---|
| я | пойду́ | пое́ду |
| ты | пойдёшь | пое́дешь |
| он / она́ | пойдёт | пое́дет |
| мы | пойдём | пое́дем |
| вы | пойдёте | пое́дете |
| они́ | пойду́т | пое́дут |
| past | пошёл, пошла́, пошло́, пошли́ | пое́хал, пое́хала, пое́хало, пое́хали |
| imperative | пойди́ (also поди́), пойди́те | поезжа́й, поезжа́йте |
Two notes. The past of пойти́ is the suppletive пошёл / пошла́ / пошло́ / пошли́ — exactly шёл/шла with по- glued on, nothing like the infinitive. And пойти́ has a colloquial short imperative поди́ ("go on / off you go"), still common in speech alongside the full пойди́. Note too that пое́хать borrows its imperative from a different stem: поезжа́й(те), never *пое́хай.
За́втра я пойду́ к врачу́.
Tomorrow I'll go to the doctor. (future of пойти́ → пойду́)
Он уже́ пошёл домо́й.
He's already gone home / he's set off home. (past пошёл — he left)
пойти́ / пое́хать as the everyday "will go" and "went"
This is the practical heart of the page. Whenever you mean a single trip — one departure, one direction — пойти́ (on foot) or пое́хать (by vehicle) is the default verb, in both the future and the past.
"I'll go" (future single trip)
Сейча́с допью́ ко́фе и пойду́.
I'll just finish my coffee and head off. (пойду́ — I'll set off)
В сле́дующем году́ мы пое́дем в Москву́.
Next year we'll go to Moscow. (a single trip by transport → пое́хать)
Не зна́ю, пойду́ ли я на вечери́нку.
I don't know whether I'll go to the party. (single future outing → пойти́)
"He went off / set off" (past single trip)
Here по- carries a flavour English often loses: пошёл means he set off and, by implication, is gone — he may not be back. It pictures the departure, not a completed there-and-back.
Где Анто́н? — Он пошёл в магази́н.
Where's Anton? — He's gone to the shop. (set off, currently away → пошёл)
Утром де́ти пошли́ в шко́лу.
In the morning the children set off for school. (пошли́)
Она́ пое́хала на рабо́ту на метро́.
She went to work by metro. (single trip by transport → пое́хала)
Contrast this departure-focused пошёл with the round-trip past, ходи́л, which means "went and came back" (Вчера́ я ходи́л в магази́н — "Yesterday I went to the shop [and returned]"). And contrast it with шёл, the past of идти́, which freezes you mid-walk ("I was on my way"). Three different pasts for one English "went":
- пошёл — set off (and is now gone / it was the start of the trip)
- ходи́л — went and came back (a completed round trip)
- шёл — was walking, on my way (a moment during the trip)
Он пошёл за хле́бом и ещё не верну́лся.
He's gone for bread and isn't back yet. (пошёл — departure, still away)
"Let's go!" — Пошли́! / Пойдём! / Пое́хали!
Russian has three everyday ways to say "Let's go!", all built on this verb, and they are pure conversation you will hear constantly. Two of them are past-tense forms used as a call to move — a quirk worth learning as a set phrase.
| Form | Literally | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Пойдём! / Пойдёмте! | "we'll go" (1pl future) | "Let's go (on foot)!" — пойдёмте is the polite/plural variant |
| Пошли́! | "we set off" (past pl) | "Let's go! / Off we go!" — brisk, very common (informal) |
| Пое́хали! | "we set off" (past pl) | "Let's go! / Here we go!" (by vehicle, or figuratively for any start) |
Дава́й пойдём в кино́!
Let's go to the cinema! (пойдём — invitation, on foot)
Все гото́вы? Пошли́!
Everyone ready? Let's go! (Пошли́ — let's move)
Пое́хали, а то опозда́ем!
Let's go, or we'll be late! (Пое́хали — let's set off)
Пое́хали! has a famous life of its own: it was Yuri Gagarin's word at lift-off in 1961, and it now means "here we go!" at the start of anything — a journey, a meeting, a game. Пошли́! works the same way for "let's get moving" on foot or metaphorically.
по- vs the spatial prefixes
It is worth keeping по- apart from the directional prefixes, which add an actual place meaning and form their own aspect pairs (при- "arrive", у- "leave", в- "in", вы- "out"; see prefixed verbs of motion). по- adds no place — only "start going". So:
- пойти́ = set off / go (neutral single trip)
- прийти́ = arrive (focus on the destination reached)
- уйти́ = leave / go away (focus on departure from here)
For "I'll go to the doctor's", you want neutral пойти́. You'd reach for прийти́ only to stress arrival ("come / get there"), and уйти́ only to stress leaving a place.
Я пойду́ к дру́гу, а пото́м приду́ домо́й к восьми́.
I'll go to a friend's and then come home by eight. (пойти́ = set off; прийти́ = arrive, future приду́)
Common Mistakes
❌ За́втра я бу́ду пойти́ в теа́тр.
Incorrect — пойти́ is perfective; its future is the simple пойду́, never бу́ду + infinitive.
✅ За́втра я пойду́ в теа́тр.
Tomorrow I'll go to the theatre. (perfective future пойду́)
❌ Вчера́ он поидёл в магази́н.
Incorrect — there is no form *поидёл; the past of пойти́ is the suppletive пошёл / пошла́.
✅ Вчера́ он пошёл в магази́н.
Yesterday he went / set off to the shop. (past пошёл)
❌ Я пойду́ в спортза́л ка́ждый день.
Incorrect — 'every day' is a habit; a single set-off perfective can't carry it. Use imperfective ходи́ть.
✅ Я хожу́ в спортза́л ка́ждый день.
I go to the gym every day. (habit → ходи́ть)
❌ Мы пойдём в Москву́ на по́езде.
Incorrect — travel by transport uses пое́хать, not пойти́ (which is on foot).
✅ Мы пое́дем в Москву́ на по́езде.
We'll go to Moscow by train. (by vehicle → пое́хать)
❌ Пое́хай скоре́е!
Incorrect imperative — пое́хать borrows поезжа́й; there is no *пое́хай.
✅ Поезжа́й скоре́е!
Get going, quick! (imperative of пое́хать → поезжа́й)
Key Takeaways
- по- + unidirectional = the inceptive perfective "set off / start going": пойти́ (foot), пое́хать (vehicle), полете́ть, побежа́ть, поплы́ть.
- This is the default verb for a single trip — both future ("I'll go": пойду́, пое́ду) and past ("set off / went off": пошёл, пое́хал) — and is far more frequent than the spatial prefixes.
- пойти́ is perfective: future endings пойду́…пойду́т (no бу́ду), suppletive past пошёл / пошла́ / пошло́ / пошли́, imperative пойди́ / поди́.
- Distinguish three pasts for "went": пошёл (set off, gone) vs ходи́л (round trip, was-and-back) vs шёл (was on the way).
- "Let's go!" is Пойдём! / Пошли́! / Пое́хали! — learn all three as set phrases.
- по- adds no place meaning; for "arrive / leave" you need the directional prefixes при- / у-.
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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.
- Ехать vs Ездить (Going by Vehicle)A2 — The vehicle counterpart to идти́/ходи́ть. Е́ХАТЬ (unidirectional) is one trip by vehicle, in progress or planned — Я е́ду в Москву́, Куда́ вы е́дете? Е́ЗДИТЬ (multidirectional) is habitual trips and past round trips — Я ка́ждый год е́зжу к роди́телям; В про́шлом году́ я е́здил в Япо́нию ('I went and came back'). Russian obligatorily distinguishes foot from vehicle, and the imperative is the irregular поезжа́й — never *ехай.
- 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.
- Talking About the Future: All the OptionsB1 — Russian offers five distinct ways to talk about the future, and choosing well is half the battle: the perfective simple future for single completed acts (Я позвоню́), the imperfective compound future for processes and habits (Я бу́ду звони́ть ка́ждый день), the plain PRESENT tense for scheduled or imminent events (По́езд ухо́дит в семь; За́втра я е́ду в Москву́), собира́ться + infinitive for intention ('be going to'), and хоте́ть / плани́ровать / реши́ть + infinitive for wishes and plans. This page maps each to its meaning and gives you a quick way to decide.
- Verbs with Two Imperfectives (and Aspect Triplets)B2 — Prefixation creates a new perfective that then needs its own imperfective, so one root can span an imperfective–perfective–secondary-imperfective triplet (писа́ть → переписа́ть → перепи́сывать); a few roots even have two competing imperfectives with different nuance (the neutral base vs. an iterative -ывать form), and the archaic frequentatives (ха́живал 'used to go') survive in literature.
- Motion-Verb ErrorsB1 — The three deadliest motion-verb mistakes English speakers make: using идти́ (on foot) for a trip you'd take by vehicle (Я иду́ в Москву́ → е́ду/лечу́), using идти́ for a daily routine instead of multidirectional хожу́ (ка́ждый день), and using the perfective пошёл for an ordinary round-trip outing where Russian wants ходи́л. Plus the imperative trap: е́хать has no *Е́хай — say Поезжа́й!