In Russian, there are two sets of verbs to talk about coming or arriving:

• приходить / прийти — to come on foot or to arrive somewhere (when the means of transport is not emphasized)
• приезжать / приехать — to come/arrive somewhere by vehicle (car, bus, train, etc.) 

For each way of moving (on foot, by transport), there are two verbs:

• imperfective (приходить, приезжать) → for repeated actions or scheduled plans
• perfective (прийти, приехать) → for one-time or completed actions

The system of these verbs can be presented as a table: 

NOTE!

Use приходить/прийти when someone walks or just arrives somewhere, not specifying the transport.

Let's look at the differences in more detail with examples: 

1. Обычно я прихожу на работу в 9. 
Usually, I come to work at nine. (repeated action)

2. Вчера я пришёл на работу в 8.
I came to work at eight yesterday. (one-time action)

3. Он приехал к бабушке вчера. 
He arrived at his grandmother’s yesterday (by car/train). (one-time action)

4. Он часто приезжает к бабушке на выходные.
He often visits his grandmother on weekends (by car/train). (repeated action)

5. Он приезжает завтра в 9.
He is arriving at nine tomorrow. (scheduled plan)

Here is the conjugation of these verbs:

In the previous units, we already studied the conjugation of the verbs ‘прийти’ and ‘приехать’. You can review them here:

• приехать → Unit 1
• прийти → Unit 2

Here are some more examples:

1. А: Ты приедешь на метро? Или придёшь пешком?
В: Я приду пешком. 

A: Are you coming by metro? Or on foot?
B: I’ll come on foot.

2. Обычно я хожу на работу пешком, но сегодня приехал на велосипеде.
Usually, I go to work on foot, but today I came by bike.

3. Во сколько ты приезжаешь завтра?
What time are you arriving tomorrow?

Listen to the audio to hear the correct answers

Listen to the audio to hear the correct answers