Breakdown of Мы едем на восток.
мы
we
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
ехать
to go (by vehicle)
восток
east
Questions & Answers about Мы едем на восток.
Why do we use едем here instead of идём for 'are going'?
In Russian, verbs of motion are very specific. едем (we are going) means going by some form of transport, like a car or a train. If we were walking east on foot, we would use идём.
Why use the preposition на instead of в for 'to'?
When talking about compass directions like восток (east), север (north), юг (south), and запад (west), Russian always uses the preposition на instead of в.
Does the word восток change its ending here since we are moving towards it?
It is actually in the accusative case to show the destination of our movement. However, because восток is a masculine word for a non-living thing, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.
How would this sentence change if we were already 'in the east' instead of traveling there?
If you are already located in the east, there is no destination of movement. You would still use на, but восток would change to the prepositional case to show a fixed location, becoming на востоке.
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