Мы встретились у входа в музей и пошли в парк.

We met at the entrance to the museum and went to the park.

Breakdown of Мы встретились у входа в музей и пошли в парк.

• пойти: to go
• и: and
• мы: we
• встретиться: to meet
• Парк: Park
• в: to/into
• у: at/by
• музей: museum
• вход: entrance

Questions & Answers about Мы встретились у входа в музей и пошли в парк.

Why is it мы встретились and not мы встречались?

Встретились is perfective: it presents the meeting as a single completed event (we met up).
Встречались is imperfective: it would mean something like we used to meet / we were meeting (regularly) or it can emphasize the process without focusing on completion. In this sentence you have a sequence of completed actions (met → went), so perfective fits best.

Why is it встретились (reflexive) instead of встретили?

Встретили usually needs a direct object: мы встретили друга = we met/ran into a friend (someone we encountered).
Встретились means met each other / met up (by arrangement) and doesn’t take a direct object. It’s the natural choice for we met (at a location).

What does у входа mean exactly? Is it “in the entrance” or “by the entrance”?

У + genitive means by/near/at (the side of) something.
So у входа = by the entrance, typically outside or right next to it.
If you wanted “in the entrance/entryway,” you’d more likely use вход with another construction, e.g. в (самом) входе/в прихожей depending on context (for a building) or внутри у входа.

Why is входа in the genitive case?

Because the preposition у requires the genitive.

• у + Gen. → у входа, у музея, у дома.

Why is it в музей (accusative) and not в музее?

Because в + accusative indicates motion towards/into a place:

• в музей = (toward) to the museum / into the museum (direction).

в + prepositional indicates location:

• в музее = in the museum (where you are).

Here, у входа в музей means at the entrance to the museum (the entrance that leads into it).

Does у входа в музей mean we were inside the museum?

Not necessarily—usually it implies you were at the entrance, most likely outside or right at the doorway. The phrase is about the meeting point, not about being inside.

Why is it пошли в парк and not шли в парк?

Пошли (perfective) means set off / started walking / went (and the action began). It focuses on the start as a completed moment in the story.
Шли (imperfective) means were walking (process/background), e.g. Мы шли в парк, когда пошёл дождь = We were walking to the park when it started raining.

Is пошли always “on foot”? What if they went by car?

In everyday Russian, пойти strongly suggests going on foot (or at least “setting off” in a general sense, often walking).
If you want to be explicit about transport, Russian commonly uses:

• поехали в парк = we went (by vehicle) to the park
• пошли в парк пешком = we went to the park on foot

Why is there no pronoun like “each other” in the Russian sentence?

Russian often encodes “each other” through -ся verbs.
встретиться already implies mutual action: to meet (up), meet each other. So no extra word is needed.

What role does и play here—does it imply a strict sequence?

И is simply and. In narratives it commonly links actions in sequence, and with perfective verbs it often reads like and then:
Мы встретились … и пошли … ≈ We met … and (then) went …
If you wanted to stress “then” more explicitly, you could add потом: … и потом пошли в парк.

Could I say Мы встретились возле входа instead of у входа?

Yes, возле входа is also near the entrance and is very common.
Typical nuance:

• у входа = right at/by the entrance (often very close)
• возле входа = near the entrance (can feel slightly less “right next to”)

Why is it в парк (accusative) and not в парке?

Same motion vs. location rule:

• в парк (accusative) = to the park (destination)
• в парке (prepositional) = in the park (location)

Does мы have to be included? Can it be omitted?

It can be omitted because the verb ending already shows the subject:

• Встретились у входа в музей и пошли в парк.
  Including мы adds emphasis or clarity (e.g., contrasting with someone else), but it’s not required.

What does the -лись ending tell me?

It’s the past tense plural ending plus the reflexive particle:

• встрети-лись = past tense, they/we
  • -ся (mutual/reflexive)
• пош-ли = past tense plural of пойти
  In past tense, Russian verbs agree in number (and in singular also gender), not in person—so мы and они would both use -ли forms.

Could the sentence also mean “We met at the entrance of the museum (inside) and went into the park (inside it)”?

For the museum part, у входа still mainly means by the entrance, not “in the entrance area.”
For the park part, в парк means to the park (as a destination), which could imply entering it if you were outside it. If you wanted to emphasize being already inside the park, you’d more likely say в парке for location, or зашли в парк for “went into/entered the park.”