Breakdown of Почему мы идём пешком?
мы
we
почему
why
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
пешком
on foot
Questions & Answers about Почему мы идём пешком?
Why do we use идём here instead of едем?
The verb идти (we go: мы идём) specifically means to go by foot. If you were taking a vehicle like a bus, train, or car, you would use a different verb: ехать (we go by transport: мы едем).
Doesn't идём already mean we are walking? Why add пешком?
Yes, идём alone implies going on foot. Adding the adverb пешком (on foot) just emphasizes it. The speaker is likely contrasting it with taking transport, essentially complaining: "Why are we walking (instead of taking the bus)?"
Why doesn't "on foot" use the word на, like when we say на автобусе (by bus)?
While vehicles take на plus the Prepositional case to say how you travel, walking is an exception. Пешком is simply an adverb meaning "on foot," so it stands completely alone without any prepositions.
Does мы идём mean "we go" or "we are going"?
Here it means "we are going." Идти is a unidirectional verb, which means it describes a specific, ongoing trip happening in one direction right now. Because of this, its present tense usually translates to the English "are going" or "are walking."
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