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Questions & Answers about Мы видим артиста.
Why does артиста end in -а? I thought objects usually take -у.
In Russian, the direct object is in the accusative case. For feminine nouns, the ending often changes to -у. However, артист is a masculine noun. For animate masculine nouns (people and animals), the accusative ending is -а. If we were seeing an inanimate object like a park (парк), the word would not change at all.
The verb is видим. Why does it use an -и ending if the dictionary form is видеть?
You spotted a tricky exception! Normally, verbs ending in -еть belong to the first conjugation and use -е endings (like -ем for 'we'). But видеть (to see) is a famous exception. It belongs to the second conjugation, so it uses -и endings: мы видим.
Does артист mean the same thing as the English word artist?
It is actually a false friend. While it sounds like artist, артист refers to a performing artist, such as an actor, singer, or dancer. If you want to talk about a visual artist like a painter, the Russian word is художник.