If you learn only one prefixed motion verb, learn this one. Піти́ (and its vehicle twin пої́хати) is the everyday way Ukrainians say someone "went off / set out / left" — Він пішо́в на робо́ту, Вони́ пої́хали у відпу́стку. The prefix по- here doesn't name a direction like при- or ви-; it marks inception — the beginning of a one-way trip — so the verb focuses on the departure: motion launched, the person now on their way or gone. It's perfective, its past пішо́в / пішла́ / пішли́ is one of the most-used words in the language, and Пішли́! / Ході́мо! is the idiomatic "let's go!" Learners chronically reach for round-trip ходи́в where the natural word for "set off / left" is пішо́в — this page fixes that.
ПІТИ́ — set off on foot (perfective, inceptive)
Піти́ = по- + іти́. The по- adds inception: not "where to / where from" but "started going, and is now off." Because it's perfective, it has no present tense — it lives in the past (set off already) and the future (will set off).
| Past | Future (perfective = simple) | |
|---|---|---|
| я (m./f.) | пішо́в / пішла́ | піду́ |
| ти | пішо́в / пішла́ | пі́деш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | пішо́в / пішла́ / пішло́ | пі́де |
| ми | пішли́ | пі́демо |
| ви | пішли́ | пі́дете |
| вони́ | пішли́ | пі́дуть |
Because піти́ is perfective, its one-word future (піду́, пі́деш, пі́де…) means "I will go / set off" — no допомі́жне "буду" needed (that's the perfective-future rule from the future overview).
Він пішо́в на робо́ту, бу́де по обі́ді.
He's gone to work, he'll be back after lunch. (Set off and is now away → пішо́в.)
Я піду́ за́втра в банк, ра́ніше не встига́ю.
I'll go to the bank tomorrow, I can't make it sooner. (Will set off → піду́, perfective future.)
Вона́ пішла́ додо́му ра́ніше — пога́но почува́лася.
She went home early — she wasn't feeling well. (Single completed departure → пішла́.)
ПОЇ́ХАТИ — set off by vehicle (perfective, inceptive)
Пої́хати = по- + ї́хати, the vehicle twin: "set off by car / train / plane," again with the focus on the launch of a single trip. Past пої́хав / пої́хала / пої́хали; perfective future пої́ду, пої́деш, пої́де….
Вони́ пої́хали до Льво́ва на вихідні́.
They went to Lviv for the weekend. (Set off by vehicle, single trip → пої́хали.)
Я пої́ду на ти́ждень до мо́ря, відпочи́ну.
I'll go to the seaside for a week and rest. (Will set off → пої́ду, perfective future.)
Та́то вже пої́хав по тебе́ — чека́й бі́ля вхо́ду.
Dad has already set off to pick you up — wait by the entrance. (Departure launched → пої́хав.)
пішо́в vs ходи́в vs ішо́в — three pasts English flattens
This is where the page earns its keep. English has one past, "went" / "was going," for all three of these. Ukrainian splits them by what you're reporting — the departure, a round trip, or being mid-journey:
- пішо́в / пої́хав (perfective, inceptive) = set off / left — focus on departure; often the person is still gone. "He's gone to the shop."
- ходи́в / ї́здив (imperfective, multidirectional) = went there and back — a completed round trip, the person is back. "I went to the shop (and I'm home)."
- ішо́в / йшов / ї́хав (imperfective, unidirectional) = was on the way — caught mid-journey, scene-setting. "I was walking when…"
| Form | Reports | Where is the person now? |
|---|---|---|
| пішо́в / пої́хав | the departure (set off) | typically still away / gone |
| ходи́в / ї́здив | a completed round trip | back already |
| ішо́в / ї́хав | mid-journey (scene) | was in transit at that moment |
Він пішо́в у магази́н — бу́де за п’ять хвили́н.
He's gone to the shop — he'll be back in five minutes. (Departure, still away → пішо́в.)
Він ходи́в у магази́н і вже поверну́вся.
He went to the shop and is already back. (Completed round trip → ходи́в.)
Він ішо́в у магази́н, коли́ зустрі́в сусі́да.
He was walking to the shop when he ran into the neighbour. (Mid-journey scene → ішо́в.)
Ході́мо! / Пішли́! — "let's go!"
The hortative "let's go!" has two everyday forms, both extremely common:
- Ході́мо! — the regular first-person-plural imperative of ходи́ти, neutral and standard: "let's go / come on."
- Пішли́! — literally the past of піти́ ("we set off"), used colloquially as an energetic "let's go! / off we go!" The past-as-hortative is idiomatic; you'll hear it constantly.
Both are interchangeable in casual speech. Ході́мо is a touch more neutral; Пішли́ is breezier. For a vehicle trip you'll hear Пої́хали! "let's go! / off we drive!"
Ході́мо вже, бо запізни́мося на сеа́нс.
Let's go now, or we'll be late for the screening. (Ході́мо — standard hortative.)
Усі́ зі́брані? Пішли́!
Everyone ready? Let's go! (Пішли́ — colloquial 'off we go!')
Сіда́йте, пої́хали — доро́ги ще бага́то.
Get in, off we go — there's still a long way to drive. (Пої́хали — vehicle hortative.)
The hortative imperative in full (the -мо / -ймо forms like ході́мо, зробі́мо, and the дава́й + infinitive pattern) is on the first-person hortative page.
по- "set off" vs по- "a little / for a while"
One caution: по- is a busy prefix. On a motion verb it's inceptive ("set off"): піти́, пої́хати, побі́гти "dash off," полеті́ти "fly off." But on many non-motion verbs the same по- means "a little / for a while" (the delimitative): почита́ти "read for a bit," поговори́ти "have a chat," поспа́ти "sleep a while." Don't transfer the "a little" sense onto the motion verbs — піти́ does not mean "go a little"; it means "set off and be gone."
Ді́ти побі́гли надві́р, лише́ две́рі грю́кнули.
The kids dashed outside, the door just banged. (побі́гти — inceptive 'set off running'.)
Дава́й поговори́мо про це за́втра — за́раз я вто́млений.
Let's talk about this tomorrow — I'm tired right now. (поговори́ти — delimitative 'have a chat', a different по-.)
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the trap is that English "went" covers departure, round trip, and mid-journey all at once, so learners pick one Ukrainian past and overuse it — usually ходи́в, because grammar books introduce it first. But the default "he went / he's gone / she left" in real speech is the perfective пішо́в / пої́хав, exactly because English often means "set off and is away" ("Dad's gone to work" — he's not here). Retrain the reflex: "left, set off, went off, has gone" → пішо́в / пої́хав; "went and came back" → ходи́в / ї́здив; "was going when…" → ішо́в / ї́хав. Also note Ході́мо! / Пішли́! as the fixed "let's go!" — there's no literal word-for-word path to it.
For a Russian speaker, пойти́/пое́хать map directly and the inceptive по- is the same idea — but mind the Ukrainian forms: the past пішо́в / пішла́ / пішли́ (not the Russian shape), the future піду́ / пі́деш, and the colloquial hortatives Ході́мо! / Пішли́! / Пої́хали! Don't smuggle Russian forms in.
Common Mistakes
❌ Він ходи́в на робо́ту — бу́де ввечері.
Wrong — if he's still away, the departure is perfective: Він пішо́в на робо́ту — бу́де ввечері. (ходи́в means he already went there and is back.)
✅ Він пішо́в на робо́ту — бу́де ввечері.
He's gone to work — he'll be back in the evening. (Departure, still away → пішо́в.)
❌ Вони́ ї́здили у відпу́стку, поки́ що не поверну́лися.
Wrong — if they're still away, it's the departure поїхати: Вони́ пої́хали у відпу́стку, поки́ що не поверну́лися. (ї́здили = went and are back.)
✅ Вони́ пої́хали у відпу́стку, поки́ що не поверну́лися.
They've gone on holiday, they're not back yet. (Departure, still away → пої́хали.)
❌ Я бу́ду піти́ за́втра в банк.
Wrong — піти́ is perfective; its future is one word, no 'буду': Я піду́ за́втра в банк.
✅ Я піду́ за́втра в банк.
I'll go to the bank tomorrow — perfective future → піду́.
❌ Ходи́ти! Ми спі́знюємося!
Wrong — the hortative 'let's go!' is Ході́мо! (or Пішли́!), not the infinitive: Ході́мо! Ми спі́знюємося!
✅ Ході́мо! Ми спі́знюємося!
Let's go! We're late! (Ході́мо — hortative.)
❌ Я хо́чу піти́ тро́хи — це означа́є 'погуля́ти'.
Wrong sense — піти́ means 'set off', not 'go a little'. For 'go for a little walk': Я хо́чу тро́хи погуля́ти / прогуля́тися.
✅ Я хо́чу тро́хи прогуля́тися.
I want to go for a little walk. (The delimitative по- belongs to non-motion verbs.)
Key Takeaways
- піти́ (past пішо́в/пішла́/пішли́, future піду́/пі́деш) and пої́хати (пої́хав, пої́ду) are the default way to say someone "set off / left / went off" — perfective, focused on the departure.
- The inceptive по- marks the start of a one-way trip; the person is often still gone.
- Three pasts English flattens: пішо́в/пої́хав (set off, away) vs ходи́в/ї́здив (round trip, back) vs ішо́в/ї́хав (mid-journey).
- Ході́мо! / Пішли́! / Пої́хали! = the idiomatic "let's go!"
- Perfective future is one word (піду́, пої́ду) — no "буду."
- Don't confuse motion-по- ("set off") with the delimitative по- ("a little": почита́ти, поговори́ти).
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Prefixed Verbs of Motion: OverviewB1 — A directional prefix transforms a motion verb on two levels at once. On the UNIDIRECTIONAL stem it makes a PERFECTIVE (прийти́ 'arrive', ви́йти 'go out'); the SAME prefix on the MULTIDIRECTIONAL stem makes the matching IMPERFECTIVE (прихо́дити, вихо́дити). Each prefix has a consistent meaning across all motion verbs — при- arrive/toward, ви- out, за- drop by/behind, пере- across/relocate, до- reach, від- away, про- through/past, об- around, в-/у- in, з-/ді- down/off — so learning ~10 prefixes once unlocks all prefixed motion.
- Іти vs Ходити (Go on Foot)A2 — The foot-motion pair. ІТИ́ (іду́, іде́ш; past ішо́в/йшов, ішла́) = ONE trip in one direction, now or planned: Я йду́ в шко́лу. ХОДИ́ТИ (хо́джу, хо́диш; past ходи́в, ходи́ла) = habitual/repeated, round-trip, or 'be able to walk': Я хо́джу до шко́ли щодня́; Дити́на вже хо́дить. Past subtlety: ходи́в = went and came back; ішо́в/йшов = was on the way.
- Aspect and Verbs of MotionB2 — Motion verbs add a second axis to aspect. Unprefixed, they split into unidirectional (іти́, ї́хати) and multidirectional (ходи́ти, ї́здити) — and BOTH are imperfective. But a directional prefix reshuffles everything: that prefix on the unidirectional stem yields a PERFECTIVE (прийти́ 'arrive', піти́ 'set off'), while the SAME prefix on the multidirectional stem yields its IMPERFECTIVE partner (прихо́дити). So прийти́ (perf) / прихо́дити (impf) are an aspect pair — 'he arrives every day' is прихо́дить, 'he arrived' is прийшо́в. This two-layer system (direction + aspect) is the hardest thing in the motion system.
- Saying 'Let's': The 1st-Person Hortative (-мо, Ну́мо, Дава́й)A2 — How Ukrainian says 'let's'. The native, idiomatic form is the synthetic 1st-plural in -мо on the imperative stem: ході́мо 'let's go', ся́дьмо 'let's sit', заспіва́ймо 'let's sing', бу́дьмо 'cheers / let's be'. Ну́мо / Ну + verb adds urging ('come on, let's'). Дава́й(те) + future/infinitive (дава́й пі́демо, дава́йте почне́мо) is colloquial and slightly russified — ході́мо is preferred. The plain inclusive future (зро́бимо ра́зом 'we'll do it together') is the neutral everyday option.
- The Future Tense: Three RoutesA2 — Ukrainian builds the future three ways. (1) The PERFECTIVE simple future — a perfective verb's present-shaped form IS its future: прочита́ю 'I'll read it through', напишу́, зроблю́, куплю́ — one word, a single result. (2) The IMPERFECTIVE analytic future — бу́ду + an imperfective infinitive (бу́ду чита́ти), the auxiliary бу́ду/бу́деш/бу́де/бу́демо/бу́дете/бу́дуть conjugating. (3) The IMPERFECTIVE synthetic future — the infinitive fused with the enclitic -му/-меш/-ме/-мемо/-мете/-муть (чита́тиму), a one-word imperfective future that Ukrainian has and Russian lacks. So 'I will read' is прочита́ю (finish it) OR бу́ду чита́ти OR чита́тиму (ongoing); the last two are interchangeable.