Механизм находится под столом.

Находится comes from находиться, which often means to be located or to be situated.

In this sentence, it does not mean that someone is actively finding the mechanism. It means that the mechanism’s location is under the table.

So Механизм находится под столом is best understood as:

The mechanism is located under the table.

Russian often uses находиться in slightly formal or neutral descriptions of location.

Because the preposition под requires the instrumental case when it means under in the sense of location.

So:

• стол = nominative
• под столом = under the table / under a table

This is a very important pattern:

• под + instrumental = location
• под + accusative = motion to a position under something

Compare:

• Механизм находится под столом. = The mechanism is under the table.
• Положи механизм под стол. = Put the mechanism under the table.

Механизм is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

It is the thing that is located somewhere.

So the structure is:

• Механизм = subject, nominative
• находится = verb
• под столом = prepositional phrase showing location

Russian has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of a or the.

That means стол can mean:

• a table
• the table

The exact meaning depends on context.

So под столом could mean:

• under the table
• under a table

Usually the surrounding context tells you which one is meant.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings show what each word is doing.

For example, these are all possible:

• Механизм находится под столом.
• Под столом находится механизм.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes.

• Механизм находится под столом sounds neutral.
• Под столом находится механизм emphasizes the location more, like Under the table is the mechanism.

Not always. It depends on whether you are talking about location or motion.

With под:

• location → instrumental
• motion toward a place under something → accusative

Examples:

• под столом = under the table, already there
• под стол = to under the table, movement toward that position

So in your sentence, the mechanism is already located there, which is why Russian uses под столом.

It is completely grammatical and natural, but находится can sound a bit neutral, descriptive, or slightly formal.

In everyday speech, Russians might also say:

• Механизм под столом. = The mechanism is under the table.
• Механизм лежит под столом. = The mechanism is lying under the table.

The best choice depends on context:

• находится = is located
• лежит = is lying
• no verb at all = very common in conversational Russian

So your sentence is good, especially if you want a neutral statement of location.

Находится is:

• 3rd person
• singular
• present tense
• from the verb находиться

It agrees with механизм, which is singular.

So:

• я нахожусь = I am located / I am
• ты находишься = you are located
• он / она / оно находится = he / she / it is located
• они находятся = they are located

Here, механизм is singular, so находится is singular too.

Механизм is masculine.

You can tell because it ends in a consonant, which is a common masculine pattern in Russian.

In this sentence, gender does not visibly affect the verb in the present tense, because находится is the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter singular subjects:

• механизм находится
• машина находится
• устройство находится

But gender does matter in other parts of Russian grammar, especially in the past tense and with adjectives.

The stress is:

• механИзм
• нахОдится
• под столОм

A rough English-style pronunciation guide:

• механИзм ≈ mekha-NEEZM
• нахОдится ≈ na-KHO-deet-sya
• под столОм ≈ pot sta-LOM

A couple of useful notes:

• д in под sounds more like t before the voiceless с in fast natural speech.
• -тся in находится is pronounced roughly like -ца.

So the whole sentence sounds approximately like:

mekha-NEEZM na-KHO-deet-sya pot sta-LOM

Grammatically, you could break it down that way historically, but that is not how it should be understood in normal English.

In modern Russian, находиться very often simply means:

• to be located
• to be situated

So the natural translation is:

The mechanism is located under the table.

Not:

The mechanism finds itself under the table.