Arriving & Leaving: Motion Prefixes
You own four motion verbs. Prefixes turn them into forty. Five little syllables — при, у, вы, в, за — and suddenly people in your sentences arrive, leave, step out, walk in and drop by.
при- — Arrival
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| Он пришёл домой в семь. | He came home at seven. (on foot) |
| Она приехала вчера. | She arrived yesterday. (by vehicle) |
| Гости пришли! | The guests are here! |
у- — Away
The mirror of при-:
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| Она уже ушла. | She has already left. |
| Они уехали на море. | They've gone away to the sea. |
вы- and в- — Out and In
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| Он вышел на минуту. | He stepped out for a minute. |
| Мы вошли в дом. | We went into the house. |
| Вы выходите? | Are you getting off? — the bus question, decoded at last |
за- — Dropping By
Я зашёл в магазин по дороге домой.
I dropped by the shop on the way home.
Note: за- is a quick stop on a longer journey — the friendliest prefix.
Кто пришёл?
Who came?
Это Том! Он зашёл на чай.
It's Tom! He dropped by for tea.
Отлично. А папа вышел — он скоро придёт.
Great. Dad stepped out — he'll be back soon.
Note the irregular bases: шёл/шла hide inside пришёл, ушла, вышел, зашла. You learned them with the weather (шёл дождь) — now they walk through doors.
Common Mistakes
- пришёл for vehicles. Arrived by train → приехал. On foot → пришёл.
- Mixing вышел and ушёл. Вышел = stepped out, coming back; ушёл = left, gone.
- Заходи taken literally. «Заходи!» at a doorway isn't a route instruction — it's "come on in!"
What You Can Do Now
You can narrate everyone's comings and goings — who arrived, who left, who stepped out and who dropped by — which is, if you think about it, most of what any household ever discusses.