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Questions & Answers about Ты съел суп?
How does the word съел show that this happened in the past?
In Russian, past tense verbs do not change based on who is speaking (I, you, he). Instead, they change based on gender and number. The -л ending in съел tells us it is a past tense action and that the person being spoken to is male. If talking to a female, it would be съела.
The English translation says 'finish', but doesn't this verb mean 'ate'?
You are right that the base word ел means 'ate' or 'was eating'. Adding the с- prefix to the beginning makes it съел, which emphasizes that the action is a completely finished result. That is why it translates well to 'finish the soup' instead of just 'eat the soup'.
Why is there a hard sign (ъ) in the middle of съел?
The hard sign is used here to separate the prefix с- from the root word ел. It acts like a tiny pause so the consonant and the vowel do not blend into one soft sound. You will often see this when a prefix ending in a consonant attaches to a word starting with е, ё, ю, or я.
Why does суп keep its basic dictionary spelling if it is the object of the sentence?
Even though суп is the direct object and is in the accusative case, its ending does not change. This is because masculine nouns that are inanimate (non-living things) look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in their basic dictionary form.