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идти and ехать

Posted: Aug 15th, 16, 19:32
by paulf
I understand the difference between идти and ехать, but is it true that идти is the kind of "neutral" one, if you don't know whether the person is going to walk or take transport. Suppose you are talking to someone in town, you don't know where they live, but they probably didn't walk to where you are, and you want to ask if/when they're going home - would you normally use идти? And I notice in the useful phrases that идти is used for "Mummy/Daddy's going to work now". Well, I'm sure more people travel than walk to work, but would the mother perhaps say иду to her child even if she's actually taking the bus?

Re: идти and ехать

Posted: Aug 20th, 16, 01:56
by samuel
if/when they're going home - would you normally use идти?

Да, "когда ты пойдешь домой?" звучит абсолютно нормально. Также можно сказать "когда ты поедешь домой?" Можно использовать оба варианта. Но слово поедешь предполагает использование транспорта,

"Mummy/Daddy's going to work now"
Да, Мама пойдет на работу сейчас, или я иду на работу сегодня или я пойду в институт или я ходил к врачу.

Re: идти and ехать

Posted: Sep 21st, 16, 08:39
by paulf
Thanks very much, Samuel, for your reply. So it seems that идти is often used (a) when you don't know if the journey is on foot or by transport, and (b) when it doesn't matter whether the journey is on foot or by transport. The child maybe knows that the mother normally takes the bus, but how she travels is quite unimportant: what matters to the child is that the mother is leaving, and that the child will be alone or with someone else. Perhaps this could be better explained in the grammar books.

Re: идти and ехать

Posted: Mar 28th, 17, 12:55
by user1142
Transportation to work is multi-stage process. First stage (e.g. from home to bus stop or elevator) usually performed on feet. So -- "пошёл на работу". Lets imagine the child walking to yard to farewell father and father is sitting in the saddle of motorcycle. No chance to say "пошёл" "иди" in this case.