Climbing and crawling (лезти, лазить)

The intransitive verbs of motion лезти and лазить mean to climb, to crawl, or to get into tight spaces.

Unidirectional: лезти

Use лезти for climbing or crawling in a single direction, toward a specific destination, or at one specific moment in time. It is a first-conjugation verb:

Use this verb for an action in progress:

Multidirectional: лазить

Use лазить for habitual climbing, moving back and forth, or exploring in multiple directions. It belongs to the second conjugation and features a consonant mutation in the я form:

Tight Spaces and the Past Tense

These verbs are also used for crawling into or moving through tight spaces like pipes, snowdrifts, or gorges.

For a specific, single-direction action of getting into a tight spot, use лезти:

For habitual crawling through tight spaces, use лазить:

In the past tense, лезти is irregular (лез, лезла, лезли), while лазить is regular (лазил, лазила, лазили).