Breakdown of Мы идём вверх, а они вниз.
а
and (contrastive)
они
they
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
вверх
up, upwards
вниз
down, downwards
Questions & Answers about Мы идём вверх, а они вниз.
Why do we use идём instead of ходим here?
идём is a unidirectional verb of motion, meaning it describes movement happening right now in one specific direction. Since we are currently on our way up, we use идём. You would use ходим for habitual trips or wandering around.
The English translation uses 'and', so why is the Russian word а instead of и?
The word а is a contrastive conjunction. It acts a bit like 'whereas' or 'while'. Because the sentence contrasts two opposite actions (we go up, they go down), а is the perfect choice. Using и here would miss that contrast.
Why is there no verb after они? Shouldn't it be они идут вниз?
You can absolutely say они идут вниз, but Russian frequently drops the verb in the second half of a sentence if it is the exact same action as the first half. It is a faster, more natural way to speak.
Are вверх and вниз prepositions? Do they need a specific case?
No, in this sentence they are adverbs of direction meaning 'upwards' and 'downwards'. Because they are adverbs, they never change their endings and do not require a specific grammatical case to follow them.
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