Мы избрали президента.

we

Breakdown of Мы избрали президента.

• избрать: to elect
• президент: the president

Questions & Answers about Мы избрали президента.

Why is it президента and not президент?

Because президента is the accusative singular form, and here it is the direct object of the verb.

For masculine animate nouns in Russian, the accusative singular usually looks like the genitive singular:

• nominative: президент
• genitive: президента
• accusative: президента

Since a president is a person, Russian treats the noun as animate, so you get президента.

What form is избрали?

Избрали is the past tense plural form of the verb избрать.

So the breakdown is:

• infinitive: избрать
• past plural: избрали

It means the action happened in the past, and the subject is plural: we.

Why does the verb end in -ли?