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chodzić = to go, to walk (generally, habitually)
iść = to be going, to be walking (right now)
Also: chodzić = to be walking (without a purpose or direction).
So no, 'you are going' doesn't work. As it's 'right now', you need to make it "idziesz" (or "idziecie" for plural 'you').
Apparently "you are walking home" isn't correct but "you walk home" is. What's the difference?
In Polish language exist one quite small category of iterative verbs. Verbs that suggest habitual or repetitive actions. Chodzić is one of them.
Idę do szkoły - I'm going (I am walking) to school
Chodzę do szkoły - I attend a school
Idziesz do domu - You are walking home
Chodzisz do domu - You walk home (You usually walks home instead taking a bus).
Other verbs with this functionality are i.a: płynąć vs pływać (to swim/to sail), lecieć vs latać (to fly), mówić vs mawiać (to say), siedzieć vs (prze)siadywać, widzieć vs widywać
I still don't understand why "you are walking home" is not an acceptable answer for "chodzisz do domu".
"you are walking" happens right now, "home" is a specific direction, so only "iść" can work.
How are "mówić" and "mawiać" used differently? Obviously "latać" and "lecieć" mean one way is to fly with your own arms and another to fly in a plane, but with "to say" its not so obvious with the different meanings.
"mawiać" is a habitual verb, it only works for Present Simple. "mówić" works both for Present Simple and Present Continuous.
I am also getting lessons from a native speaker and according to him, both Chodzisz and Idziesz are accepted in every day language. So this is extremely misleading and technically not correct. Use whichever one you want and you'll be right.
Either you missed some valid point ar your teacher is really incompetent. Yes both chodzisz and idziesz are very common words used in every day language. they both can mean walk or go.
You walk home can in theory be translated into both "Idziesz do domu" and "chodzisz do domu". But they mean very different things. just like you go and you are walking mean different things.
Chodzisz - means you walk/ go usually, habitually. in a different sentence it could also mean you are walking without direction. As English language describes things that happen often/habitually using Simple tenses, the course enforces "chodzisz=you walk/go"
idziesz- means you are walking/going at the moment, or you will be going one time in the near future. As English language describes things that happen at the moment using continous tenses the course enforces idziesz =you are walking/going.
That's true, but the English is not so prescriptive. Referring to the case where someone attends a school, so they "chodzą do szkoły", an English speaker may use "do go", or "are going".
The questions: "Where are you going to school?", and "Where do you go to school?" would both require chodzić, not iść because both English expressions mean regularly and/or habitually. While "Where are you going to school?" in the sense of doing it now (so using iść) is possible, but I can't think of a valid example of using it that way.
Is it really necessary to use "you" (you go home)? Is "Go home" wrong because it shouldn't be an imperative?
It is not an imperative in Polish. Polish imperative uses it's own distinct forms like: chodzisz -> chodź, idziesz -> idź, mówisz -> mów. In other words skipping "you" is an error.
One more thing to note is that „chodzisz” and „idziesz” have very different meaning. You can read more in posts above.
You often combine idziesz, idę with a time stamp such as: "Idę teraz": I am going now. "Kiedy idziesz?": When are you going? This is used more often than combining with forms of 'chodzić' in my opinion...but this may just be habitual w/my Polish family. Also iść could imply walking/running/driving/catching public transport etc. But chodzić is very much on foot/walking. In my opinion isć is general in this sense, but it has a 'moment in time' relation implied. Anyway, I've flogged this horse a bit, sorry. But why " You are walking home" is not accepted, I don't understand...
I'm not sure if I follow your logic completely... generally both "iść" and "chodzić" technically mean 'on foot', but sometimes it can also mean that the transport is completely irrelevant.
"You are walking home" definitely happens right now, so it has to be "idziesz".
You can say I am walking home or ide do domu, (sorry if I did not spell it accurately
Im really struggling with this one, even after reading the comments... If i Type 'you walk home' And 'you are walking home' Into a translator it translates both to 'chodzisz do domu' If you are walking home isn't an acceptable answer...how do you say this in Polish. Thanks.
"Idziesz do domu".
Please do not use translators for anything else than 'general understanding of the text'. They often do not even cope well with grammar, not to mention more complicated nuances of the language.
You may read more about Verbs of Motion here: https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/polish-verbs-of-motion/
