Я иду через лес.

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Breakdown of Я иду через лес.

• идти: to go
• через: through
• лес: the forest

Questions & Answers about Я иду через лес.

What exactly does иду mean: I go or I am going?

Иду is the 1st person singular present tense of идти (to go on foot) in a single direction. It can be translated as I go (habitual) or I am going (right now); in this sentence it means I am going at this moment.

Why use иду instead of хожу or ездить?

Russian has pairs of motion verbs:

• идти versus ходить both mean “to walk.” Идти indicates unidirectional motion (one-way, right now), whereas ходить indicates multidirectional or habitual motion (regularly going back and forth).
• ездить means “to go by vehicle.”
  Since the speaker is walking through the forest on a single trip, иду is the correct choice.

Why do we say через лес and what case does через require?

Через means through or across and always governs the accusative case. It implies movement entering on one side of something and exiting on the other. Therefore лес appears in the accusative.

Why doesn’t лес change its ending in the accusative?