Learn Hardcore German: Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro, aber privat zeichne ich jeden Abend. - Professionally I work in an office, but in private I draw every evening.

In a main clause, the conjugated verb must be in second position. The first position can be many things: the subject, an adverb, a time expression, etc.

In this sentence:

Beruflich = element in first position
arbeite (the verb) = second position
ich (the subject) = third position

So:

Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro … = correct
Beruflich ich arbeite im Büro … = wrong (verb is no longer in second position)

It’s the same in the second clause:

aber privat zeichne ich …

Here, privat is the first element of the clause, so the verb zeichne has to come second, and ich comes after it.

What exactly does beruflich mean here? Is it the same as “at work” or “professionally”?

Beruflich is an adverb meaning roughly “in my professional life / in my job / for work”.

In this sentence:

Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro …
≈ “In my professional life, I work in an office …”
or more naturally: “For work, I work in an office …”

It doesn’t mean “I’m doing something professionally” in the sense of “as a professional artist/athlete”, but rather “in the context of my job as opposed to my private life.”

You will often see contrasts like:

Beruflich wohne ich in Berlin, privat aber in Potsdam.
= “For work I live in Berlin, but privately in Potsdam.”

So beruflich sets the “work sphere” as the context.

What does privat mean here, and is it the same as English “private”?

German privat is similar but not identical to English “private”.

Here privat is an adverb meaning:

“in my private life / in my free time / personally”

So:

… aber privat zeichne ich jeden Abend.
≈ “but in my private life I draw every evening.”
≈ “but personally, I draw every evening.”

It does not mean “secret” or “confidential” in this sentence. It just contrasts your private life with your professional life.

As an adjective it can mean:

eine private Telefonnummer – a private (non-work) phone number
eine private Schule – a privately run school (not state-run)

Why is there a comma before aber?

In German, aber is a coordinating conjunction like “but” in English. It usually connects two main clauses, and a comma is required between those clauses.

Structure here:

Clause 1: Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro
Conjunction: aber
Clause 2: privat zeichne ich jeden Abend

Therefore, you must write:

Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro, aber privat zeichne ich jeden Abend.

Leaving out the comma would be a punctuation mistake in standard written German.

Does aber cause the inversion (zeichne ich) in the second part?

Not directly. The inversion is caused by privat, not by aber.

Important points:

aber is a coordinating conjunction and doesn’t take up the “first position” inside the clause. Grammatically it’s often treated as “position 0”.
In the clause after aber, the first true element is privat, so the verb must be second:
- aber [0] privat (1) zeichne (2) ich (3) jeden Abend

So:

aber privat zeichne ich jeden Abend = correct
aber privat ich zeichne jeden Abend = wrong (verb not in second position)
aber ich zeichne privat jeden Abend = also correct (this time ich is first, so no inversion relative to English)

What does im Büro literally mean, and which case is it?

im Büro is a contraction:

im = in dem (preposition in
- dative article dem)
Büro = “office”

So it literally means “in the office”, using the dative case.

Reason:

With in, you use:
- dative for location (where?) → im Büro (where do you work? in the office)
- accusative for direction (where to?) → ins Büro (wohin gehst du? ins Büro)

Here it’s a static location (“I work in the office”), so dative is correct: im Büro.

How is jeden Abend working grammatically, and why jeden and not jeder?

jeden Abend is an adverbial of time meaning “every evening”.

Grammar:

Abend is masculine: der Abend
jeder is the base form (masculine nominative singular)
In time expressions like “every X”, German often uses the accusative:
- jeden Tag – every day
- jede Woche – every week
- jedes Jahr – every year

So:

Masculine accusative: jeden
Therefore: jeden Abend

Functionally, it behaves like a time adverb: “when?” → every evening.

What is the difference between zeichnen and malen in German?

Both can be translated as “to draw / to paint”, but there is a common distinction:

zeichnen
– drawing with a pen, pencil, charcoal, etc. (line-based)
– like sketching
malen
– painting with colors (paint, watercolor, etc.)
– more about applying color

So:

Ich zeichne jeden Abend.
→ I sketch / draw every evening (likely with pencil/pen).
Ich male jeden Abend.
→ I paint every evening (with paints/brushes).

The sentence is specifically about drawing, not painting.

Why is it zeichne ich and not ich zeichne after privat? Could I say ich zeichne privat jeden Abend instead?

After privat, you need zeichne ich because of the verb‑second rule (same logic as with beruflich).

In the given version:

privat is in first position
zeichne must then be second
ich comes after the verb

So:

privat zeichne ich jeden Abend = correct

But you can absolutely reorder the clause:

Ich zeichne privat jeden Abend. – also correct

Differences:

Privat zeichne ich jeden Abend.
– Slight emphasis on privat (“When it comes to my private life, I draw every evening.”)
Ich zeichne privat jeden Abend.
– More neutral; starts with ich, like in English.

Both are natural; the original sentence uses fronting (privat) to mirror the contrast with beruflich.

Could I also say Ich arbeite beruflich im Büro, aber ich zeichne privat jeden Abend? Is that the same?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and means essentially the same thing.

Comparison:

Beruflich arbeite ich im Büro, aber privat zeichne ich jeden Abend.
– Fronts beruflich and privat for a clear contrast:
“Professionally …, but privately …”
Ich arbeite beruflich im Büro, aber ich zeichne privat jeden Abend.
– More neutral, typical subject‑first word order.
– Still contrasts work vs. private, but less strongly highlighted at the start of each clause.

Both are good; version 1 sounds a bit more stylistic and contrastive.

Is it common in German to use this “beruflich …, privat …” pattern to contrast work and private life?

Yes, this pattern is quite natural and common.

Examples:

Beruflich telefoniere ich sehr viel, aber privat hasse ich Telefone.
Beruflich trage ich Anzug, privat laufe ich nur in Jeans herum.

Using beruflich and privat at the beginning of clauses is a neat way to:

signal a clear contrast between your professional and private life, and
keep the sentence compact and parallel.

So the original sentence is not only correct but also very idiomatic.