Verbs of Motion Map

Q & A (imaginary)

Teach: Joe, what the hell is this?

Joe: It's a map of the 12 most-used Russian verbs of

motion.

T.: What is the purpose of it?

J.: It is a way to organize the conjugations and stress

patterns used for the VOM pairs.

T.: What does it mean to native Russian speakers.

J.: Probably nothing, because the native speakers

acquired these pairs through hearing them in speech, whereas

the student of Russian needs to form some sort of count and

placement for the various stress patterns and conjugations.

T: Why are there only 12 pairs and not 14, as in the

Penguin book?

J: Twelve divides conveniently into two groups of six. The

first group of six divides into four (идти́, нести́, везти́,

вести́) and then two (е́хать, лезть).

The second group of six divides into three subgroups: two

(ползти́, плыть), one irregular (бежа́ть), and three (лете́ть.

кати́ть, гнать).

Later, as an afterthought, the thirteenth (брести́) could

be added following вести́, and the fourteenth (тащи́ть) could

be added following кати́ть.

T.: Why did you list only the stems?

J.: I wanted to see the stems in big letters, because when

the student hears е́дет, it's not immediately clear that it

is associated with е́хать. I find these 2-stem verbs to be

more challenging when they are in the verbs of motion, because

there are so many forms and stress patterns to remember.

T.: Are you the only one who has trouble with the Russian

verbs of motion.

J.: No, I've read stories where even very good students of

Russian fear having to deal with VOM questions on exams.

T.: Why did you list the unidirectional verb and follow it

with the multi-?

J.: Igor Zelljadt, Professor of Russian at Smith College,

Connecticut (d.2009) stood in front of the special evening

class of Russian at URI, where he was a guest lecturer, and

said: идти́ - ходи́ть, е́хать - е́здить. That was in 1959.

I think you should practice with whichever order is best

for you.

10/03/2019