Мы выбрали наиболее короткий путь.

we

Breakdown of Мы выбрали наиболее короткий путь.

• выбрать: to choose
• короткий: short
• путь: the way

Questions & Answers about Мы выбрали наиболее короткий путь.

Why is выбрали used here, and what form is it?

Выбрали is the past tense plural form of the verb выбрать (to choose / to select).

• выбрать = perfective infinitive
• выбрал = he chose
• выбрала = she chose
• выбрало = it chose
• выбрали = they chose

It agrees with мы (we), so the verb must be plural.

Also, Russian past tense is built from the infinitive stem plus endings that show gender in the singular and number in the plural.

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Why is the verb выбрать perfective here instead of выбирать?

Russian uses aspect, and here выбрать is perfective, which means the action is seen as completed.

So:

• мы выбирали = we were choosing / we used to choose / we spent time choosing
• мы выбрали = we chose / we have chosen

In this sentence, the idea is that the choice has already been made, so выбрали is the natural form.

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Why is путь in this form? Shouldn’t the object change?