Learn Hardcore Russian: По утрам я езжу на работу на маршрутке, а вечером иду домой пешком. - In the mornings I go to work by minibus, and in the evenings I walk home.

по утрам literally is “by mornings,” and it means “in the mornings (habitually, regularly)”.
- It emphasizes that something happens on mornings in general, as a repeated action.
- Grammatically, по
  - утрам (dative plural of утро) = “on / in the mornings.”
утром usually means “(in) the morning / in the morning (today)” and can be:
- about a single morning:
  - Утром я встал рано. – “In the morning I got up early.”
- or more general, but less strongly habitual than по утрам.

In this sentence, По утрам я езжу… emphasizes a routine: this is how I usually go to work on most mornings.

Why is it по утрам, but just вечером and not по вечерам?

Both are possible; the choice changes the nuance:

по утрам – clearly habitual: “in the mornings (as a rule)”.
вечером – “in the evening / in the evenings”, and here context makes it clear it’s also about a routine.

If you say:

А по вечерам иду домой пешком.
it would more strongly stress “in the evenings (habitually) I walk home.”

With вечером the sentence is a bit more neutral and natural-sounding; it still clearly describes a daily routine because it’s paired with “in the mornings” and uses present tense.

Why is it я езжу and not я еду?

Russian has two main verb pairs for “to go”:

ехать / ехать – ездить for going by transport
идти – ходить for going on foot

Each pair has:

a unidirectional verb (single, one-way movement “towards somewhere now”):
- ехать, идти
a multidirectional verb (habitual, repeated, or movement in various directions):
- ездить, ходить

In this sentence:

я езжу на работу… uses ездить (езжу) = “I (usually) go by transport to work”, describing a habit/routine.
я еду на работу would sound like “I’m on my way to work right now (by transport).”

So езжу is correct because the speaker is describing what they do on mornings in general.

Why do we say иду домой, not хожу домой, if it’s also a daily routine?

Good observation—both can appear in habitual contexts, but there is a nuance.

ходить (multidirectional) usually describes:
- repeated, habitual actions:
  - Я хожу на работу пешком. – “I go to work on foot (regularly).”
- movement back and forth, in different directions.
идти (unidirectional) usually describes:
- a single, concrete movement toward one destination:
  - Я иду домой. – “I am going home (now).”

So why иду домой in a sentence about routine?

Because Russian often “replays” the typical situation as if it is happening each evening:

…а вечером иду домой пешком.
= “and in the evening I (typically) go home on foot,”
but it imagines each evening as a concrete walk home.

Хожу домой пешком would sound more like “I (generally) go home on foot (as a habit),” and is also possible. The given иду makes each evening’s walk feel more like a specific, regular event.

What is маршрутка, and how does it differ from just saying автобус?

Маршрутка is a colloquial Russian word. It means:

a minibus / shared taxi that runs on a fixed route and usually:
- is smaller than a regular bus
- can stop on request
- is often privately operated
- may be more crowded but sometimes faster

Автобус is a standard bus.

So:

на маршрутке – “by minibus / by marshrutka”
на автобусе – “by bus”

In many cities, both exist and are different types of transport.

Grammatically, what case is used in по утрам, на работу, and на маршрутке, and why?

These are three different cases:

по утрам
- по
  - утрам (dative plural of утро).
- The construction по + dative plural often means “on / in (a series of times)”:
  - по вечерам – in the evenings
  - по субботам – on Saturdays
на работу
- на
  - работу (accusative singular of работа).
- With verbs of motion, на + accusative means “to / onto (a place)”:
  - на работу – to work (as a place)
  - на остановку – to the bus stop
на маршрутке
- на
  - маршрутке (prepositional singular of маршрутка).
- With means of transport, на + prepositional typically means “by (transport)”:
  - на автобусе – by bus
  - на поезде – by train
  - на машине – by car

So each на / по has its own usual case pattern and meaning.

Why is it на работу (“to work”) and not в работу?

In Russian, the preposition for “to work” as a workplace is almost always на:

идти на работу – to go to work
ехать на работу – to go (by transport) to work
прийти на работу – to arrive at work

В работу can exist but means something else:

It’s about “into the work / into the process of working”, e.g.:
- включить проект в работу – to put the project into work.

So:

на работу = to the workplace
в работу = into some kind of work activity (much more specialized)

Why is it домой and not в дом or к дому?

All three exist, but they have different uses:

домой:
- adverb meaning “(to) home”.
- Used most naturally with motion verbs:
  - идти домой – to go home
  - ехать домой – to go home (by transport)
в дом (literally “into the house”):
- emphasizes entering a building:
  - зайти в дом – to go into the house
- would sound odd in everyday speech for “go home,” unless you really mean the physical building, not your “home” as such.
к дому (“towards the house”):
- emphasizes direction towards a physical house, not necessarily going inside.
- Used more in descriptive or literary contexts:
  - Он подошёл к дому. – He approached the house.

For the everyday idea “go home,” домой is the normal, idiomatic word.

What does пешком mean exactly, and is it an adjective or something else?

Пешком means “on foot”.

It’s an adverb, not an adjective.
It describes how you go somewhere:
- идти пешком – to go on foot
- дойти пешком – to reach (somewhere) on foot

You cannot use it like an adjective:

❌ пешком человек – incorrect
✅ пеший турист – here пеший is the adjective “on foot / walking” (a “hiking tourist”).

In this sentence, иду домой пешком = “I go home on foot.”

Why does Russian use я езжу and иду in the same sentence, instead of two forms of the same verb type?

Because the mode of transport is different:

ездить / ехать – “go by transport”
ходить / идти – “go on foot”

So:

я езжу на работу на маршрутке – “I go to work by marshrutka (vehicle).”
иду домой пешком – “I go home on foot.”

If you changed the way of going, the verb would change too:

По утрам я хожу на работу пешком.
– In the mornings I walk to work.
А вечером я еду домой на маршрутке.
– And in the evening I go home by marshrutka.

Does the present tense here mean present continuous (“am going”) or habitual (“usually go”)?

In Russian, the present tense often covers both meanings, and context decides:

Я иду домой. (alone, right now) = “I am going home (now).”
По утрам я езжу на работу…
а вечером иду домой пешком. The time phrases по утрам and вечером clearly signal a habit / routine.

So here the present tense is habitual:

“In the mornings I (usually) go to work by marshrutka, and in the evening I walk home.”

Is the word order По утрам я езжу… fixed, or could it be Я по утрам езжу…?

The word order is not fixed. Both are possible:

По утрам я езжу на работу на маршрутке…
Я по утрам езжу на работу на маршрутке…

The difference is mainly emphasis:

Starting with По утрам puts a bit more focus on the time frame:
- “As for mornings, I go to work by marshrutka…”
Starting with Я focuses more on the subject (“I”):
- “I, in the mornings, go to work by marshrutka…”

Both are natural; the original version is very typical in spoken and written Russian.

Could you replace на маршрутке with something more general like “by public transport”? How would that look in Russian?

Yes, you can make it more general:

По утрам я езжу на работу на общественном транспорте, а вечером иду домой пешком.
- на общественном транспорте – “by public transport”

Or slightly less formal:

По утрам я езжу на работу на автобусе, а вечером иду домой пешком.
– “by bus” instead of “by marshrutka.”

The grammar pattern stays the same: на + prepositional for the means of transport.