Learn Hardcore Russian: Мы нашли другой способ.

Breakdown of Мы нашли другой способ.

What does нашли mean grammatically?

Нашли is the past tense plural form of the verb найти, which means to find.

Here is the breakdown:

Because the subject is мы (we), Russian uses the plural past form: нашли.

Why is the verb in the past tense not marked for person, like in the present tense?

In Russian, past tense verbs do not change for person the way present tense verbs do. Instead, they change for:

So:

That is why нашли can mean we found or they found depending on context. In this sentence, мы makes it clear that it means we found.

Why is the verb used here instead of ?