Breakdown of Мне нужно найти этот ряд между сценой и выходом.
и
and
я
I
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
найти
to find
Questions & Answers about Мне нужно найти этот ряд между сценой и выходом.
Why are сценой and выходом in the Instrumental case?
They follow the preposition между (between). When describing a location, между requires the nouns that follow it to be in the Instrumental case. So, сцена (stage) becomes сценой and выход (exit) becomes выходом.
Why does этот ряд look like it's in the Nominative case if it is the direct object of the verb?
It actually is in the Accusative case! Because ряд (row) is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form is identical to its Nominative form. The same rule applies to the pronoun этот.
Could I use the imperfective verb искать instead of найти here?
You could, but it would change the meaning. найти is the perfective verb meaning "to find" (focusing on the successful result), while искать is the imperfective verb meaning "to look for" or "to search" (focusing on the ongoing process).
Why does the sentence start with Мне instead of Я?
Russian expresses "I need" using an impersonal construction. The person who needs something is put in the Dative case (Мне = to me), followed by the word нужно (it is necessary). Literally, the sentence means "To me it is necessary to find..."