Я не хотел идти в аптеку, но всё‑таки зашёл по дороге домой.

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Breakdown of Я не хотел идти в аптеку, но всё‑таки зашёл по дороге домой.

• в: to
• не: not
• идти: to go

Questions & Answers about Я не хотел идти в аптеку, но всё‑таки зашёл по дороге домой.

Why is it хотел (masculine)? What if the speaker is female?

Past-tense verbs in Russian agree with the subject in gender and number.

• я не хотел = I (male) didn’t want
• я не хотела = I (female) didn’t want
• мы не хотели = we didn’t want (plural)

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Why do we need я? Could it be omitted?

Yes. Russian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows person/number.

• Не хотел идти в аптеку, но всё‑таки зашёл… is natural if context makes the subject clear.
  Keeping я adds emphasis/contrast (like “I personally didn’t want to…”).

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Why is it не хотел идти and not не хотел пойти?

After хотеть you usually use an infinitive. Both aspects are possible, but the choice changes the nuance:

• не хотел идти (imperfective) = didn’t want to be going / didn’t want the process of going; often a general reluctance.
• не хотел пойти (perfective) = didn’t want to go (as a single decision/event), i.e., didn’t want to set off.

In this sentence, идти fits the idea of reluctance to make that trip at all.

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What’s the difference between не хотел and не захотел?