How do you say “go by boat” in Russian?

Russian chooses the motion verb by how you travel. On foot it’s идти, by car or train ехать, and on water плыть, which covers both swimming and sailing. So passengers on a ferry say мы плывём на остров, “we’re sailing to the island,” and a ship плывёт too. Ехать на пароме is also heard, but плыть is the verb for moving across water.

The present goes плыву, плывёшь, плывёт, плывём, with an extra в. Плыть is movement in one direction, happening now. Its partner плавать is for repeated or back-and-forth movement and for the general ability: я умею плавать, “I can swim.” By air the pair is лететь / летать. The clip also adds палуба (deck): cars ride on decks 2 and 4, people on 5 and 6.