Мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку, потому что обсуждали новый проект.

Чуть не means almost.

So:

• Мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку = We almost missed our stop

Even though English uses almost, Russian often uses чуть не + a verb, literally something like almost not / just barely not.

This is a very common pattern:

• Я чуть не упал. = I almost fell.
• Она чуть не заплакала. = She almost started crying.

So the не is part of the idiomatic expression чуть не and does not simply mean ordinary negation here.

Because the subject is мы = we.

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender/number:

• masculine singular: пропустил
• feminine singular: пропустила
• neuter singular: пропустило
• plural: пропустили

Since мы is plural, the form is пропустили.

The same is true for обсуждали:

• мы обсуждали = we were discussing / discussed

This is about aspect, which is very important in Russian.

• пропустить is perfective
• обсуждать is imperfective

Here is why each one is used:

пропустили (perfective)

The idea of missing a stop is treated as a single completed event. Even though it did not actually happen, чуть не normally goes well with a perfective verb because it refers to an event that almost occurred.

обсуждали (imperfective)

This describes an ongoing background action: we were discussing the new project. The discussion was in progress, and because of that ongoing action, they almost missed the stop.

So the aspect contrast is very natural:

• near-completed event: чуть не пропустили
• ongoing background activity: обсуждали

Свой is the reflexive possessive adjective, meaning one’s own.

So:

• свою остановку = our own stop
• more naturally in English: our stop

Russian often prefers свой when the possessor is the same as the subject.

Since the subject is мы, using свою shows that the stop belongs to us in the sense that it is the stop where we were supposed to get off.

You could say нашу остановку, and it would be understandable, but свою остановку is very natural and often preferred in Russian.

Compare:

• Я взял свою сумку. = I took my bag.
• Она нашла свои ключи. = She found her keys.

Because пропустить takes a direct object, so остановка has to be in the accusative case.

The dictionary form is:

• остановка = stop

Its accusative singular is:

• остановку

And because свой must agree with остановка, it also changes:

• nominative feminine singular: своя
• accusative feminine singular: свою

So:

• своя остановка = one’s own stop
• пропустить свою остановку = to miss one’s own stop / to miss one’s stop

Because обсуждали also takes a direct object, and проект is a masculine inanimate noun.

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: новый проект
• accusative: новый проект

That is why the phrase stays the same in form here.

Compare with an animate masculine noun:

• новый студент (nominative)
• вижу нового студента (accusative)

But with проект:

• новый проект
• обсуждали новый проект

Потому что means because.

So:

• ..., потому что обсуждали новый проект. = ..., because we were discussing a new project.

Russian normally uses a comma before потому что when it introduces a subordinate clause.

This is standard punctuation:

• Я ушёл, потому что устал.
• Мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку, потому что обсуждали новый проект.

So the comma is required because the sentence has a main clause and a because-clause.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although the original version is very natural.

Original:

• Мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку, потому что обсуждали новый проект.

You could also say:

• Потому что обсуждали новый проект, мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку.

This puts more emphasis on the reason first:

• Because we were discussing a new project, we almost missed our stop.

You might also hear:

• Мы свою остановку чуть не пропустили, потому что обсуждали новый проект.

That can slightly emphasize our stop.

So the basic meaning stays the same, but word order can shift emphasis and style.

It can, but Russian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form or context.

Here:

• Мы чуть не пропустили свою остановку already gives the subject we
• then обсуждали is clearly understood as we were discussing

So repeating мы is unnecessary.

You could say:

• ..., потому что мы обсуждали новый проект.

That is grammatically correct too, but it adds a little more explicitness or emphasis. The version without the second мы is smoother and very normal.

Остановка can mean a stop in public transport generally, especially a bus, trolleybus, or tram stop. In context, пропустить свою остановку usually means to miss the stop where you were supposed to get off.

Depending on context, it can work for different kinds of transport, but it is especially common with surface transport. With trains or the metro, Russian may also use other words depending on the situation, but остановка is still very understandable as stop in a general sense.

So in this sentence, the important idea is simply:

• we almost passed the place where we needed to get off

Yes, пропустить is a very common verb with several meanings depending on context. Some common ones are:

• to miss / fail to catch

  • пропустить остановку = miss a stop
  • пропустить урок = miss a lesson

• to let through / allow to pass

  • пропустить человека вперёд = let a person go ahead

• to skip

  • пропустить страницу = skip a page

So the core idea is often something like let pass, fail to catch, or leave out. In this sentence, it clearly means miss.

A fairly literal breakdown would be:

• Мы = we
• чуть не = almost
• пропустили = missed
• свою остановку = our own stop / our stop
• потому что = because
• обсуждали = were discussing
• новый проект = a new project / the new project

So a more literal English rendering would be:

We almost missed our stop because we were discussing a new project.

The natural English translation is basically very close to the Russian meaning here.