Just like with walking and going by vehicle, Russian uses distinct verb pairs for other types of motion. The verb you choose depends on whether the movement is unidirectional (a one-way trip, or heading in a specific direction right now) or multidirectional (habitual, round trips, or aimless movement).
Let's expand your vocabulary to cover running, swimming, and flying:
| Motion | Unidirectional | Multidirectional |
|---|
| Running | бежать | бегать |
| Swimming | плыть | плавать |
| Flying | лететь | летать |
Running: бежать / бегать
Use бежать for a single trip in one specific direction, or when you are running to a destination right now.
Use бегать for habitual running, running back and forth, or running without a specific destination. To talk about "jogging" as a hobby or workout, Russians use the phrase бегать трусцой (literally "to run at a jog").
Swimming and Sailing: плыть / плавать
In Russian, the same verbs are used whether a person is swimming, a fish is swimming, or a ship is sailing.
Плыть is the unidirectional form. Use it for a subject that is currently swimming or sailing toward a specific point.
Плавать is the multidirectional form. Use it to describe swimming for general exercise, floating around, or moving in multiple directions.
Flying: лететь / летать
Finally, we have the verbs for flying, which are used for birds, aircraft, and pilots.
When a bird or a pilot is currently heading to a specific destination, use the unidirectional verb лететь:
When describing a habit, a general ability, or aimless flying, switch to the multidirectional verb летать: