перейти / переехать
Crossing or Moving Across
The prefix пере- means 'across' or 'over'. Russian distinguishes between crossing on foot (перейти) and crossing by vehicle (переехать). Additionally, переехать is the standard verb for relocating to a new home.
How It Works
1. Spatial Crossing
When you cross a physical boundary like a road, river, or bridge, you must choose the verb based on your mode of transport and aspect:
- Walking: переходить (imperfective) / перейти (perfective). Я перехожу через улицу. (I am crossing the street.)
- Driving/Riding: переезжать (imperfective) / переехать (perfective). Мы переехали через мост. (We crossed the bridge.)
Note: Using the preposition через + Accusative is the clearest way to indicate 'crossing' from one side to the other.
2. Relocation (Moving House)
The verb переезжать / переехать is used for moving to a new residence. In this context, it is used with в/на + Accusative for the destination.
Example: Они переезжают в новую квартиру. (They are moving into a new apartment.)
3. Running Over
The verb переехать also means to run over something with a vehicle. In this specific sense, use the bare Accusative without a preposition.
Example: Водитель случайно переехал коробку на дороге. (The driver accidentally ran over a box on the road.)
4. Figurative Transitions
Перейти is used for non-physical transitions, such as changing jobs (перейти на другую работу), switching to a new topic (перейти к делу), or the culturally significant перейти на «ты» (to switch to the informal ты).
5. Grammar and Cases
- Перейти has an irregular past tense: перешёл, перешла, перешли.
- Переехать is regular: переехал, переехала, переехали.
Examples (5)
- Давай перейдём дорогу здесь.
Let's cross the road here.
Word by Word: Let-us cross road here.
Uses перейти because the action is performed on foot.
- Автобус переехал через мост.
The bus crossed the bridge.
Word by Word: Bus crossed across bridge.
Uses переехать because a vehicle is involved.
- Мои друзья переехали в новую квартиру.
My friends moved into a new apartment.
Word by Word: My friends moved into new apartment.
Переехать is the standard verb for moving house.
- Он перешёл на другую работу в прошлом месяце.
He switched to a different job last month.
Word by Word: He crossed to other work in past month.
A figurative use of перейти meaning to change or switch states.
- Мы перешли через реку по льду.
We crossed the river on the ice.
Word by Word: We crossed across river on ice.
The preposition через is often used to emphasize the act of crossing from one side to the other.
Common Mistakes
Using перейти when traveling by vehicle.
Я перешёл границу на машине.Я переехал границу на машине.Russian strictly separates walking and driving. If you are in a car, you must use a verb based on ехать.
Using the wrong past tense form for перейти.
Она перешлала дорогу.Она перешла дорогу.Learners often try to apply regular past tense endings to the stem. Remember that перейти follows the irregular past tense of идти: перешёл (masc), перешла (fem).
Confusing the meaning of 'crossing' and 'running over' with переехать.
Водитель переехал через коробку.Водитель переехал коробку.To say you 'ran over' something, use the bare Accusative case. Using the preposition 'через' (across) changes the meaning to 'crossing over' the object (like a bridge).
How It Connects
Learn This First
To understand перейти and переехать, learners must first be familiar with the basic verbs of motion (идти and ехать) because these prefixed forms inherit their conjugation patterns. Additionally, since 'moving to' a new location is a primary function of переехать, knowledge of the accusative case for direction (в/на + Accusative) is essential for forming complete sentences.
- идти / ходитьUnidirectional and Multidirectional Walking
The verb перейти is a prefixed form of the basic verb of motion идти, sharing its conjugation and core meaning of movement on foot.
Level 3 - ехать / ездитьUnidirectional and Multidirectional Vehicle Travel
The verb переехать is a prefixed form of the basic verb of motion ехать, sharing its conjugation and core meaning of movement by vehicle.
Level 3
Related Patterns
- пройти / проехатьPassing Through or Past
Similar verbs that mean passing through or past a location rather than crossing a boundary.
Level 3 - войти / въехатьEntering
Related prefixed verbs of motion meaning 'to enter'.
Level 3 - Perfective result
Both перейти and переехать are perfective verbs focusing on the result of the action.
Level 3 - в/на + Accusative (Destination)Accusative Destination After В and На
The case construction used with переехать when moving to a new location.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice перейти / переехать in Bubblegum
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