Поезд едет в этом направлении.

The train is going in this direction.

Breakdown of Поезд едет в этом направлении.

• в: in
• поезд: the train
• этот: this
• ехать: to go
• направление: the direction

Questions & Answers about Поезд едет в этом направлении.

Why is едет used instead of идёт?

Russian has different verbs of motion depending on how something moves.

• идти / ходить = to go on foot (walking)
• ехать / ездить = to go by vehicle (car, train, bus, etc.)

A train is a vehicle, so you must use ехать.
Поезд едет literally means the train is going (by vehicle).

You would use идёт for a person moving on foot:
Он идёт в этом направлении – He is walking in this direction.

What is the difference between едет and ездит?

Both come from the verb ехать / ездить, but:

• едет – one-direction, one specific trip happening now or in a single direction.
• ездит – multi-direction / habitual / repeated trips.

In this sentence:

• Поезд едет в этом направлении.
  There is a specific train, at this moment, moving in this direction.

Compare:

• Поезд ездит в этом направлении.
  This would mean “The train (regularly) runs in this direction”, like on a schedule, not describing what it is doing right now.

What tense and aspect is едет, and what exactly does it mean?

Едет is:

• Present tense
• 3rd person singular
• Imperfective aspect
• From the verb ехать

So поезд едет corresponds best to English “the train is going / is moving” rather than just “goes”, because it describes an ongoing process.

Imperfective aspect focuses on the process, not on the completion or result.
Perfective future would be something like поедет, приедет, уедет, etc.

Why do we say в этом направлении and not в это направление?

Because в этом направлении here means “in this direction”, not “into this direction”.

• When в means into (movement into a place), it uses the accusative:
  в город – into the city
  в это направление – would sound like “into this direction” (very unusual and basically wrong in normal speech).

• When в means in / within, it uses the prepositional:
  в городе – in the city
  в этом направлении – in this direction

Направлении and этом are in the prepositional case, matching each other:

• направление → в направлении
• этот → в этом

What case is направлении in, and why?

Направлении is in the prepositional case (предложный падеж).

Base form (nominative): направление
Prepositional singular: (о) направлении

It is in the prepositional case because of the preposition в used with the meaning “in” (not “into”):

• в этом направлении – in this direction

Why is it этом направлении and not something like этот направление?

In Russian, demonstratives like этот must agree in:

• gender
• number
• case

with the noun they refer to.

Nominative singular:

• это направление – this direction

Prepositional singular:

• о направлении – about the direction
• об этом направлении – about this direction
• в этом направлении – in this direction

So этом is the prepositional masculine/neuter singular form of этот, agreeing with направлении (which is neuter, prepositional singular).

Could we say поезд идёт в этом направлении, and how would it sound?

People do sometimes say поезд идёт, especially in everyday speech or in older/literary styles, but:

• Strictly speaking, for a vehicle, едет is the standard and more correct verb.
• Поезд идёт may sound:
  • slightly old-fashioned,
  • or metaphorical (thinking of the train as a whole thing “going” rather than “driving”).

For clear, modern, neutral Russian, Поезд едет в этом направлении is better.

Can we change the word order, for example to В этом направлении едет поезд? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order:

• Поезд едет в этом направлении.
  Neutral order: first the subject (train), then what it does and where.

• В этом направлении едет поезд.
  Puts more emphasis on “in this direction”.
  It answers a question like: “What is going in this direction?” – A train is.

The basic meaning is the same, but the focus changes due to word order. Russian allows relatively free word order for emphasis.

Why is there no word like “the” or “a” before поезд?

Russian has no articles (no direct equivalents of “a/an” or “the”).

Whether поезд means “a train” or “the train” depends on context:

• If both speakers know which train: the train is going in this direction.
• If it’s just some train: a train is going in this direction.

Russian relies on context, word order, stress, and sometimes extra words (like этот поезд – this train) instead of articles.

How do we know that поезд is masculine, and why does that matter?

Поезд is grammatically masculine because:

• It ends in a consonant and is a typical masculine noun pattern.
• In dictionaries it’s marked as м. (масculинум).

This matters because it controls agreement:

• Verb form: поезд едет (3rd person singular; same for any gender, but number matters).
• Adjectives/pronouns would also be masculine:
  большой поезд – big train
  этот поезд – this train

If it were plural, it would be поезда едут – the trains are going.

Can едет be used with people too, or only with vehicles?

Едет can absolutely be used with people, but only when they are travelling by some vehicle:

• Он едет в Москву. – He is going to Moscow (by train/car/bus, etc.).
• Она едет на работу. – She is going to work (by transport).

If the person is walking, you use идёт:

• Он идёт в этом направлении. – He is walking in this direction.

What is the difference between в этом направлении and по этому направлению?

Both exist, but they’re used a bit differently:

• в этом направлении – literally “in this direction”, focusing on the direction of movement.

  • Very natural for describing how something is moving:
    Поезд едет в этом направлении.

• по этому направлению – literally “along this route / by this direction”.

  • Often used about routes, lines, services:
    Поезда ходят по этому направлению. – Trains run on this route.
    Билеты по этому направлению подорожали. – Tickets for this route have become more expensive.

In your sentence, в этом направлении is the right choice because you’re describing the actual current direction of movement.

How do you pronounce поезд and направлении?

• Поезд: [ПО-езд]

  • Stress on the first syllable: ПО.
  • The -зд at the end is pronounced together; in careful speech you hear both consonants, but in fast speech it can sound close to [поест].

• Направлении: [на-праВЛЕ-ни-и]

  • Stress on -ле-: на-пра-ВЛЕ-ни-и.
  • The -ии at the end is two syllables in slow careful speech, but often merges to something like -ий in normal speech.