Breakdown of Мы вышли из леса и пошли вдоль реки.
и
and
мы
we
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
река
river
Questions & Answers about Мы вышли из леса и пошли вдоль реки.
Why does the word реки end in -и in this sentence?
The preposition вдоль (along) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case. Since река (river) is a feminine noun ending in -а, its Genitive form is реки.
Why do we use the verbs вышли and пошли instead of the basic verb шли?
Вышли and пошли are perfective verbs of motion created with prefixes. Вышли (from выйти) focuses on the exit, while пошли (from пойти) means set off or started walking. The sentence describes two completed actions in a sequence, so we need these perfective forms rather than the imperfective шли, which focuses on the continuous process of walking.
Why is the preposition из used for coming out of the forest?
In Russian, prepositions of direction work in pairs. Because you go into a forest using в (в лес), you must use its exact opposite, из (followed by the Genitive case), to say you are coming out of it.
Could we use по instead of вдоль to mean walking along the river?