Breakdown of Мы идём пешком два часа.
мы
we
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
пешком
on foot
два
two
час
hour
Questions & Answers about Мы идём пешком два часа.
Why is the word for hours written as часа here?
This is exactly what your current lesson covers! After the numbers 2, 3, and 4, Russian uses the genitive singular form of the noun. The dictionary form is час (hour), and its genitive singular form is часа.
Why do we use два instead of две?
The number 2 has two forms in Russian. You use два for masculine and neuter nouns, and две for feminine nouns. Since час is a masculine noun, we must use два.
The English translation says 'have been walking', but isn't идём present tense?
Yes, идём is present tense! In Russian, if an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you just use the present tense. To a Russian speaker, you are essentially saying 'We are walking and our total time so far is two hours'.
Why do we need the word пешком? Doesn't идём already mean 'to walk'?
While идти implies moving on foot, it is often used as a general verb for 'to go'. Adding the adverb пешком (on foot) makes it perfectly clear that you are physically walking rather than taking a bus or car.
Could we use ходим instead of идём here?
идём is a one-way (unidirectional) verb of motion, meaning you are currently walking toward a specific destination. If you were just walking around aimlessly in a park for two hours, you would use the multi-directional verb ходим.
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