Thread: i went

How do I express completed mono-directional movement in the past?

Вчера в час я пошёл в город.

It seems like this means that I left, but did not necessarily get there.

пошёл is the Perfective aspect so you must have completed your trip, I would have thought.

Вчера в час я ходил в город.

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?t=4962

Hmm......

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Вчера в час я ходил в город.

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?t=4962

Правильно - шел.

Yes...вчера в час я ходил в город is right. It implies that you went and are now back.. вчера в час я пошёл в город is kinda like...Yesterday at 1 i set off for the city....as if you left on a journey and have not yet returned.

But he wants to express this:

It seems like this means that I left, but did not necessarily get there.

In this case you are still in the process of "going" - so шел.

Well if he wanted to express the fact that he left and is still going...it would be вчера в час я пошёл в город because пошёл is kinda like "set off", not meaning for sure if he arrived. вчера в час я шёл would kinda be like, yesterday i was going to the city, when blah blah blah happened. шёл needs to be used when describing how one did something or describing something that happened while going.

See, I'm still not clear exactly. Obviously the imperfective ходить is used when saying "вчера я ходил в спотзал", but what if I am giving an account of things I did yesterday? I think what I am looking for is how to express going to a place that is in a sequence of places. "Вчера в два часа я [?] на стадион. Оттудa я [?] в университет. Наконец я [?] домой."

Originally Posted by saibot

Well if he wanted to express the fact that he left and is still going...it would be вчера в час я пошёл в город because пошёл is kinda like "set off", not meaning for sure if he arrived. вчера в час я шёл would kinda be like, yesterday i was going to the city, when blah blah blah happened. шёл needs to be used when describing how one did something or describing something that happened while going.

I think we are trying to describe two different things here.

I think you would use пошёл for a sequence of events...because you set off from one place to the next....i may be wrong...perhaps a native speaker would like to elaborate

Originally Posted by Pravit

Originally Posted by saibot

Well if he wanted to express the fact that he left and is still going...it would be вчера в час я пошёл в город because пошёл is kinda like "set off", not meaning for sure if he arrived. вчера в час я шёл would kinda be like, yesterday i was going to the city, when blah blah blah happened. шёл needs to be used when describing how one did something or describing something that happened while going.

I think we are trying to describe two different things here.

You said that you were trying to get the point across that he was still going. Thats what i explained...i think...lol

Originally Posted by Geoduck

See, I'm still not clear exactly. Obviously the imperfective ходить is used when saying "вчера я ходил в спотзал", but what if I am giving an account of things I did yesterday? I think what I am looking for is how to express going to a place that is in a sequence of places. "Вчера в два часа я [?] на стадион. Оттудa я [?] в университет. Наконец я [?] домой."

Вчера в два часа я ходил на стадион. Оттудa я ходил в университет. Наконец я вернулся домой.

da...вернуться thats the word i was looking for...i couldnt figure out a way to say that he left and successfully made it home....good choice!

Originally Posted by Geoduck

How do I express completed mono-directional movement in the past?

Вчера в час я пошёл в город.

It seems like this means that I left, but did not necessarily get there.

It develops on how this story goes:

1. Вчера в час я пошёл в город. По дороге встретил своего друга и решил зайти к нему на минуту.

2. Вчера в час я пошёл в город. Походил по магазинам и вернулся.

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Вчера в два часа я ходил на стадион. Оттудa я ходил в университет. Наконец я вернулся домой.

Nope, "ходил" in the second sentence means a repeating action: "Я ходил на стадион, в университет, в магазин" etc. Better: "Оттуда я пошёл в университет".