# All verbs of motion



## Thomas F. O'Gara

I'm starting this new thread after seeing another related topic that reminded me of something I've always wondered about. Does anybody have an exhaustive list of all the verbs of motion in Russian? We all know that the following are on the list:

_ходить/идти_
_ездить/ехать_
_бегать/бежать_
_летать/лететь_
_плавать/плыть
носить/нести
возить/везти
водить/вести

But I understand that there are actually several more. One, I think, is ползать/ползти, to crawl; another may be лазить/лезть, to climb, although I'm not sure. Can anybody provide a more extensive list of them?
_


----------



## papillon

I find this topic very interesting. I actually never realized that "verbs of motion" was a "thing". In other words, since I am not a linguist invloved in teaching Russian to non-native speakers, I never realized that certain verbs are segregated into a category of motion verbs for teaching purposes. Most native speakers are probably not aware of this either and we don't, usually, think of them as belonging to any special category. 

This being the case, I would like to ask: what consitutes a verb of motion? It seems to me, that with all the suffixes and prefixes, the list of "verbs of motions" could easily be extended to hundreds of verb. Besides, are any and all motions eligible? Are verbs like
прибывать, бросать (или бросаться), приезжать, перемещаться, двигаться или передвигаться
actually verbs of motion? In every case, some movement is involved.
Thanks!


----------



## Thomas F. O'Gara

Papillon:

Good point and I suppose I got a little bit ahead of myself here.  In teaching Russian to foreigners, "verbs of motion" is the term used to describe verbs that have two imperfect forms, one for multidirectional (e.g., _ходить_), and one unidirectional (e.g., _идти_).  The generic perfective for both forms is usually taught as the unidirectional form with the prefix 
по- (e.g., _пойти_).  Granted, there are a lot of verbs that indicate motion and are not "verbs of motion" by this definition - like the other verbs you mention.

I hope I'm making myself clear.  If not, get back with me.


----------



## papillon

Thanks!
Given these parameters, I can start thinking about your question.


----------



## papillon

Both of  your examples  seem to fit all aspects of the definition.
ползать/ползти 
лазать/лезть 

The only other one I found that could be a bona fide verb of motion pair is
таскать/тащить

The web site which suggested this verb has some other examples, but this is the only one that seems to really fit the bill. Actually the website has a really cool diagram for figuring out which verbs to use and how to make sense of prepositions.


----------



## Thomas F. O'Gara

Thanks, Papillon.

How about катать/катить?  Actually, I don't know if катить exists as a separate form on its own.  I've never seen it.


----------



## papillon

This would probably work too, but it's probably not as "pure" as the others. Depending on teh situation, they may mean different things, which all revolve around "roll".
I suppose катить would be unidirectional, since you can say
Он катит тачку на базар. However, to say for a repetitive action
каждую неделю он катает тачку на базар... doesn't sound good, you'd probably use the word возит. The verb катать is indeed non-directional, but it is usually used in the sense of "drive/carry somebody around, take somebody for a ride". Он меня катает на своей новой машине


----------



## cyanista

Thomas F. O'Gara said:
			
		

> How about катать/катить?  Actually, I don't know if катить exists as a separate form on its own.



It does. Now that I think of it, it can be intransitive, transitive and impersonal (the latter has quite a different meaning and is confined to slang).
1. Попрыгунья Стрекоза лето красное пропела;оглянуться не успела, как зима *катит* в глаза. (И. А. Крылов)
1a. Автобус весело катил вперёд.
2. Пупкин обыгрывает двух защитников и непринуждённо   *катит *мяч в свободный угол ворот.
3. Мне такая музыка не катит. (_slang_ I don't like such music.) Oh sorry, it had to be impersonal.  You can also say "Мне (не) катит" meaning "I (don't) like it". 
 
I leave it to you to think of a better translation for the last sentences.


----------



## Crescent

I also very much like наше русское выражение: катить бочку на кого либо. It's very informal (so please don't say it to anyone you're trying to impress with your russian skills, otherwise they will just think you are rude..  ) and it means approximately 'to be having a go at somebody'. 
It's not very relevant to the topic, I know, but I just thought it might prove to you further that the verb 'катить' is indeed used tnowadays.


----------



## papillon

Thank you Crescent, 
I was meaning to add this expression to my post. Any time somebody says this I can't help but get the image of someone literally pushing a big barrel in front of them, the other person trying to get out of the way...


----------



## papillon

Verbs of motion: I got another good one! Well, actually my dad came up with it.
_гонять - гнать_ (to chase).
Он гоняет тараканов по кухне. -- he is chasing cockroaches around the kitchen: non-directed motion.

 Он гонит собаку из дому -- he is chasing a dog out of the house: directed motion (гонит is 2nd sing. of of гнать).

What do you think?


----------



## Thomas F. O'Gara

Papillon:

Thanks!  I knew that there had to be more.


----------



## papillon

One more, courteosy of my dad (he really likes this game):
тянуть/тягать = to pull, to drag.
The тягать form is actually falling out of use, and is considered slightly archaic. Still, in small villages you could hear: она тягает его за собой, she's dragging him with her <anywhere she goes>...


----------



## ballena

I remembered one more:
 носиться/нестись = to ran or fly in fast and excited manner

Дети у них у всех воспитанные: никто не *носится с гиканьем* по территории...
 Моя душа *несется* в вышину...


----------



## Brian Ralph

I haven't formatted my computer to type po russkii yet, so the best I could do is find a site that explains the topic. Can someone help me with that? I have Windows. I'm terrible with computers. I ran a few searches and found the best explanation of verbs of motion at: alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/vom.html

This is probably the most comprehensive that I've come across in one shot on a website. The list of verbs of this type is limited to the seven basic pairs of perfective and imperfective verbs. There are many verbs that imply motion, but they aren't verbs of motion. Any verb is a motion, so the verbs of motion are limited to these base 7 pairs. It goes much deeper with prefixed verbs of motion. There are about a dozen prefixes that you can slap on the root and change it's meaning. In the simplest terms, verbs of motion imply many things about the nature of travel specific to context. Does this make sense to native speakers or at least those who have had a few years of Russian under their belt?


----------



## papillon

Brian, welcome to the forum.
I think that you should go back and reread the entire thread. As Thomas explained in post # 3, verbs of motion is a grammatical term that is used to describe a very specific category of verbs with two imperfective forms.

There appears to be ~10 classical bona fide VOM, and we've been trying to find more. For the classical ones, see the link in post #5. Given the properties of verbs of motion as described, if you come up with more example, let us know!
Cheers

EDIT: 


> I ran a few searches and found the best explanation of verbs of motion at: alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/vom.html


 Ah, you actually were referring to the same website as was in post #5. It's true, with enough prefixes we can create more verbs. I guess we are trying to expand the list of "basic" unprefixed verbs.


----------



## Brian P

Brian Ralph said:


> I haven't formatted my computer to type po russkii yet, so the best I could do is find a site that explains the topic. Can someone help me with that? I have Windows. I'm terrible with computers. I ran a few searches and found the best explanation of verbs of motion at: alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/vom.html
> 
> This is probably the most comprehensive that I've come across in one shot on a website. The list of verbs of this type is limited to the seven basic pairs of perfective and imperfective verbs. There are many verbs that imply motion, but they aren't verbs of motion. Any verb is a motion, so the verbs of motion are limited to these base 7 pairs. It goes much deeper with prefixed verbs of motion. There are about a dozen prefixes that you can slap on the root and change it's meaning. In the simplest terms, verbs of motion imply many things about the nature of travel specific to context. Does this make sense to native speakers or at least those who have had a few years of Russian under their belt?


 
Hi Brian,

I found that the best way to learn the rules of Russian grammar, in addition to studying them, is to read as much Russian as possible so that you learn equally by induction and deduction.

I suggest that you buy ORFO2004 at http://www.allvirtualware.com/rusoft/orfo.htm  It has a spell check and several Cyrillic keyboards.  Also, I find 501 Russian Verbs by Thomas Beyer a great help.  In addition I use the Oxford English-Russian-English Dictionary, Arakin's English-Russian Dictionary and Smirnitsky's Russian-English Dictionary

Hope this helps you.

Your namesake


----------

