Thread: Help With Phrases Referring To Going Somewhere

идти is about process itself, пойти is more "abstract"

compare: "Пойдём в кино?" (let's go to the cinema?) - here you don't want to mind every your step and without context even cannot answer the question "when?", you just propose to get to the movie theater sometime, somehow.

with "must go" you should, however, use идти: "Я должен идти" (now)
"Я должен пойти" is also possible, but you should add Where: "Я должен пойти к Робертсонам на свадьбу!" (may be, in couple of months)

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

идти is about process itself, пойти is more "abstract"

compare: "Пойдём в кино?" (let's go to the cinema?) - here you don't want to mind every your step and without context even cannot answer the question "when?", you just propose to get to the movie theater sometime, somehow.

with "must go" you should, however, use идти: "Я должен идти" (now)
"Я должен пойти" is also possible, but you should add Where: "Я должен пойти к Робертсонам на свадьбу!" (may be, in couple of months)

Благодарю, maxmixiv. Just correcting your sentence here, say "here you don't want to mind your every step", rather than "every your step". Also rather than saying "and without context even cannot answer", say "and without context cannot even answer".