Мы увидели корабль.

Yes, Russian can often omit subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.

In Мы увидели корабль, мы means we. The verb увидели already shows first person plural in the past tense, so in many contexts you could also say simply:

Увидели корабль.

That said, мы is often kept for clarity, contrast, or emphasis. For a learner, including it is very normal and helpful.

Увидели is the past tense plural form of the verb увидеть.

Breakdown:

• увидеть = to see, to catch sight of
• увидели = we saw

Why plural? Because the subject is мы = we.

In Russian past tense, the verb agrees with the subject in number and, in the singular, also in gender:

• я увидел = I saw, if the speaker is male
• я увидела = I saw, if the speaker is female
• мы увидели = we saw

This is a very common question because it involves aspect, which is a major feature of Russian verbs.

• видеть / видели is imperfective
• увидеть / увидели is perfective

In this sentence, увидели suggests a completed event: we saw / we caught sight of a ship.

Compare:

• Мы видели корабль. = We saw a ship / We used to see a ship / We were seeing a ship, depending on context
• Мы увидели корабль. = We saw a ship, meaning we noticed it or spotted it at a particular moment

So увидели often focuses on the moment of noticing.

Корабль is the direct object of the verb, so it is in the accusative case.

However, for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is usually the same as the nominative singular. That is why the word still appears as корабль.

So:

• nominative: корабль = ship
• accusative: корабль = ship

If it were a masculine animate noun, the accusative would often look different.

The ь is called the soft sign. It does not have its own sound, but it tells you that the preceding consonant is pronounced soft.

So in корабль, the final л is soft.

This matters both for pronunciation and for grammar, because the soft sign is part of the noun’s normal dictionary form.

The usual stress is:

Мы уви́дели кора́бль.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• мы = mɨ; the vowel is not exactly like English ee
• уви́дели = oo-VEE-dye-lee approximately
• кора́бль = ka-RABL’ approximately, with a soft final л

The exact Russian sounds are different from English ones, but the main thing for a learner is to place the stress correctly:

• уви́дели
• кора́бль

No, Russian word order is much more flexible than English word order because the case endings help show grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

Мы увидели корабль.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Корабль мы увидели.
• Увидели мы корабль.

These alternatives can change the focus or emphasis, but the basic meaning remains similar.

For learners, Мы увидели корабль is the safest and most neutral version.

The dictionary form is увидеть.

So if you look up увидели, you should search for увидеть.

This verb forms an aspect pair with:

• видеть = imperfective
• увидеть = perfective

That pairing is important in Russian, because many verbs come in aspectual pairs.

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

That means корабль can mean:

• a ship
• the ship

The context tells you which one is meant.

So Мы увидели корабль could mean either:

• We saw a ship
• We saw the ship

Without context, both are possible.

Yes. Because the verb is увидели, it often has the sense of caught sight of, noticed, or spotted.

So depending on context, the sentence could suggest:

• we saw a ship
• we noticed a ship
• we spotted the ship

That nuance comes from the perfective verb увидеть, which often highlights the moment something enters your awareness.