Везти vs. возить
To transport, to carry
The Russian verbs везти and возить are a pair of verbs of motion that both in their base meaning translate to to transport, to carry (usually by means of transportation), to take someone from place to place in a car, carriage, etc., in English, but they differ in terms of aspect and motion type.
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везти (imperfective, unidirectional) — emphasizes one-time, one-way transportation occurring at a specific moment, whether in the present, past, or future.
Курагин должен был посадить ее в приготовленную тройку и везти за 60 верст от Москвы в село Каменку, где был приготовлен расстриженный поп, который должен был обвенчать их. - Л. Н. Толстой
(Kuragin was supposed to put her in a prepared troika and take her 60 versts from Moscow to the village of Kamenka, where a defrocked priest was ready to marry them. - L. N. Tolstoy)
возить (imperfective, multidirectional or repeated) — used for habitual or repeated actions, or for movement in more than one direction.
Любишь кататься, люби и саночки возить. - пословица
(If you like to ride, enjoy pulling a sled. - proverb)
Find out more about Russian verbs of motion from this index-type post:
Fixed Expressions and Other Meanings
Before we start conjugating both verbs, let’s take a look at their alternative meanings and fixed expressions.
Везти - associated with being lucky, fortunate.
Тебе везёт на людей.
(You’re lucky with people)
Also used ironically to describe bad luck: везёт как утопленнику - some luck! (literally “as lucky as a drowned man”)
Дуракам везёт - the fools get lucky (often used as a joke)
Везти на себе - to take full responsibility; to bear the burden alone; to do all the hard work (often for others)
Возить воздух - to do useless work; to waste effort on something that produces no result; literally: to cart air around
Возить тряпкой по столу - to wipe the table with a rag
Возить мордой по столу – (very rude, colloquial) to humiliate, prove someone wrong in a cruel way
Он его прямо при всех возил мордой по столу.
Возить воду (на ком-то) - to exploit (somebody), to be taking advantage (of someone)
Let’s conjugate both verbs in all three tenses and in the imperative mood, using examples from Russian literature.
