Breakdown of Наш сосед возит овощи на рынок каждую субботу, а сегодня он везёт только картофель.
каждый
every
на
to
сегодня
today
он
he
Questions & Answers about Наш сосед возит овощи на рынок каждую субботу, а сегодня он везёт только картофель.
Why does the sentence use возит in the first part but везёт in the second part?
This is one of the classic Russian verbs of motion patterns.
- возить = to transport/carry something regularly, repeatedly, or in general
- везти = to transport/carry something right now, in one particular trip, in one direction
So:
- Наш сосед возит овощи на рынок каждую субботу = this is his usual habit
- сегодня он везёт только картофель = today, on this specific trip, he is taking only potatoes
English often just uses take or bring in both cases, but Russian makes this distinction very clearly.
Are возить and везти both imperfective?
Yes. Both are imperfective, but they belong to different motion patterns:
- везти = determinate / one-directional transport
- возить = indeterminate / multidirectional / habitual transport
That means Russian is not contrasting completed vs incomplete here. Instead, it is contrasting:
- habit / repeated action → возит
- one current trip → везёт
So the difference is not mainly aspect in the usual perfective/imperfective sense, but the special behavior of verbs of motion.