Сегодня я съел одну вафлю с клубничным джемом, а вторую — без него.

Today I ate one waffle with strawberry jam, and the second one without it.

Breakdown of Сегодня я съел одну вафлю с клубничным джемом, а вторую — без него.

• я: I
• с: with
• сегодня: today
• без: without

Questions & Answers about Сегодня я съел одну вафлю с клубничным джемом, а вторую — без него.

Why is it съел, not ел?

Because съел is the perfective past tense of съесть (to eat up / to eat completely), while ел is the imperfective past tense of есть (to eat).

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about two completed actions:

• he ate one waffle with jam
• and the second one without it

So Russian naturally uses the perfective:

• я съел = I ate / I finished eating

If you used ел, it would sound more like:

• I was eating
• I used to eat
• or it would focus on the process rather than the completed result

So here съел fits because the action is presented as finished.

Does съел tell us anything about the speaker?

Yes. In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with gender and number.

• съел = masculine singular
• съела = feminine singular
• съело = neuter singular
• съели = plural

So я съел strongly suggests that the speaker is male.

If the speaker were female, the sentence would begin:

• Сегодня я съела...