Breakdown of Сначала мы пойдём в банк, а потом поедем на вокзал.
а
and (contrastive)
мы
we
в
in / to (direction)
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
банк
bank
вокзал
train station
сначала
first
потом
then
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
поехать
to go (by transport)
Questions & Answers about Сначала мы пойдём в банк, а потом поедем на вокзал.
Why do we use пойдём and поедем instead of идём and едем?
Идём and едем are in the present tense (meaning "we are going"). By adding the prefix по- to these verbs of motion, we create the perfective future tense. It means "we will set off" or "we will go".
Is the по- in these verbs the same as the preposition по?
No, they are different! The preposition по is a separate word that usually takes the dative case (like по телефону - by phone). In this sentence, по- is a prefix attached directly to the verbs to change their tense from present to future.
Why are there two different words for "will go" (пойдём and поедем) in the same sentence?
Russian uses different verbs depending on how you travel. Пойдём is used for going on foot, so they are walking to the bank. Поедем is used for going by transport, meaning they will take a vehicle to the station.
Both places are destinations. Why does the sentence use в банк but на вокзал?
To say "to a place", Russian uses both в (into/to) and на (onto/to). В is the default for enclosed buildings like a bank (банк). На is an exception used for certain places, including transit hubs like a train station (вокзал). Because these express destination (motion towards), both nouns take the accusative case.
Why use а for "and" instead of и?
While и simply links similar items together, а indicates a slight shift in focus or a soft contrast. When transitioning from one timeframe to another (like "First we will do X, and then we will do Y"), а is the natural choice.
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