Questions & Answers about Я собираюсь поехать к морю с женой летом.
Why is собираюсь reflexive (ends in -сь) and what does собираться mean here?
Собираться is a reflexive verb that often means to be getting ready / to plan / to be about to. In this sentence, Я собираюсь + infinitive expresses an intention or plan: I’m planning / I’m going to (go). The -сь is part of the verb’s dictionary form (собираться) and is not optional.
Why do we use поехать and not ехать?
This is about aspect and typical phrasing:
- поехать is perfective and focuses on the single departure / the start of the trip (setting off).
- ехать is imperfective and focuses on the process of traveling (being on the way).
With собираюсь, Russian commonly uses a perfective infinitive like поехать to mean “I plan to go (set off).”
You can say Я собираюсь ехать…, but it more strongly highlights the traveling process (less common in this exact “plan to go” sense).
What tense is Я собираюсь поехать…—is it present or future?
Grammatically, собираюсь is present tense (1st person singular) of собираться. But the whole construction expresses a future intention: “I’m planning to go (in the future).” The future meaning comes from the idea of planning + the infinitive.