Мы идём по прямой улице к вокзалу.

We are walking along the straight street to the station.

Breakdown of Мы идём по прямой улице к вокзалу.

• улица: the street
• к: to
• мы: we
• по: along

Questions & Answers about Мы идём по прямой улице к вокзалу.

Why is the verb идём used here, and not ходим?

Because идём comes from идти, which is the verb of motion used for going in one direction right now.

So Мы идём... means We are going / walking... in a specific direction at this moment.

By contrast, ходим comes from ходить, which is used for:

• repeated or habitual movement,
• movement in different directions,
• general ability or custom.

Compare:

• Мы идём к вокзалу. = We are going to the station now.
• Мы ходим к вокзалу каждый день. = We go to the station every day.

What exactly does идём mean grammatically?

Идём is:

• 1st person plural: we go / we are going
• present tense
• from идти

So the sentence starts with Мы идём... = We are going...

Also, in Russian, the present tense of идти is often translated naturally into English as are going rather than just go, depending on context.

Why is по used here?