Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я — со сметаной.

Дочка is a very common, affectionate everyday word for daughter.
The more basic/dictionary form is дочь, but дочка sounds warmer and more natural in many family contexts.

So:

• дочь = daughter
• дочка = daughter / daughter dear / little daughter, depending on context

In this sentence, дочка is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the verb.

Ест is the 3rd person singular form of the verb есть meaning to eat.

The subject is дочка = she / my daughter, so Russian uses:

• я ем = I eat
• ты ешь = you eat
• он / она ест = he / she eats

So Дочка ест means The daughter is eating / Daughter eats.

The singular is оладья, but people usually eat more than one, so Russian naturally uses the plural оладьи.

Also, in this sentence оладьи is the direct object of ест. Since оладьи is an inanimate plural noun, its accusative plural looks the same as the nominative plural:

• nominative: оладьи
• accusative: оладьи

So the form does not change here.

Вареньем is the instrumental singular of варенье.

After the preposition с meaning with, Russian normally uses the instrumental case when talking about accompaniment or something served with something else.

So:

• варенье = jam/preserves
• с вареньем = with jam

The ending changes like this:

• варенье → вареньем

This is a regular instrumental singular pattern for many neuter nouns ending in -е.

Both с and со mean with, but со is used when it sounds easier to pronounce.

Russian often uses со before awkward consonant clusters, especially when the next word begins with с plus another consonant. Since сметаной starts with см-, со сметаной is smoother than с сметаной.

So:

• с вареньем
• со сметаной

This is mainly a pronunciation/euphony choice.

Because сметана is a feminine noun, and after с / со meaning with, it goes into the instrumental singular.

So:

• сметана = sour cream
• со сметаной = with sour cream

The change is:

• -а → -ой (or sometimes -ою in more formal/literary style)

This is a very common instrumental ending for feminine nouns.

The dash shows that words are being left out because they are understood.

The full sentence could be:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я ем оладьи со сметаной.

But Russian very often omits repeated words. After а я, the listener can easily understand:

• ем
• possibly also оладьи

So the dash marks this ellipsis:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я — со сметаной.

Meaning: My daughter eats pancakes with jam, and I [eat them] with sour cream.

А often connects two parts that are being contrasted or compared, even if the contrast is mild.

Here the sentence is not just adding information; it is comparing two preferences:

• daughter → with jam
• I → with sour cream

So а works like:

• whereas
• while
• and as for me

Using и would sound more like simple addition, but а highlights the difference between the two people.

Because Russian often omits repeated verbs when they are obvious from context.

The full version is:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я ем оладьи со сметаной.

But repeating everything would sound less natural. Russian prefers the shorter version:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я — со сметаной.

This kind of omission is very common, especially in comparisons.

Я is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the understood verb ем.

Even though ем is omitted, the structure is still:

• дочка ест
• я [ем]

So я stays nominative.

A fully expanded version would be:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я ем оладьи со сметаной.

Russian shortens it to avoid repetition:

Дочка ест оладьи с вареньем, а я — со сметаной.

Both mean the same thing, but the shorter version sounds more natural in everyday speech.

A natural stressed version is:

До́чка ест ола́дьи с варе́ньем, а я́ — со смета́ной.

A few pronunciation notes:

• дочка: stress on the first syllable — До́чка
• оладьи: stress on ла́ — ола́дьи
• вареньем: stress on ре́ — варе́ньем
• сметаной: stress on та́ — смета́ной

The dash usually corresponds to a short pause in speech.