Learn Hardcore German: Im Homeoffice trage ich oft Jeans und T‑Shirt, während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt. - In the home office I often wear jeans and a T-shirt, while my brother goes to work in a suit.

Im Homeoffice is the usual way to say “(when I’m) working from home / in my home office” in a work context.
In dem Homeoffice is grammatically correct but sounds overly heavy and unnatural in everyday speech.
Zu Hause is more general and neutral: “at home.” It doesn’t automatically imply “working,” while im Homeoffice clearly refers to the work situation at home.

So im Homeoffice = “in my home-office working situation,” not just “at home.”

Why does the sentence start with Im Homeoffice? Can I also say Ich trage im Homeoffice oft Jeans und T‑Shirt?

Yes, you can absolutely say Ich trage im Homeoffice oft Jeans und T‑Shirt. Both versions are correct.

German main clauses need the conjugated verb in second position (the V2 rule):

Im Homeoffice (position 1) trage (position 2) ich oft Jeans und T‑Shirt
Ich (position 1) trage (position 2) im Homeoffice oft Jeans und T‑Shirt

Starting with Im Homeoffice just emphasizes the situation/location (“When I’m working from home...”), while starting with Ich emphasizes the subject (“I”).

Why is there no article before Jeans and T‑Shirt?

In German, clothing items are often used without an article when you talk about what you (usually) wear, especially in a general or habitual sense:

Ich trage Jeans. – I wear jeans.
Er trägt Anzug. – He (usually) wears a suit.

Adding an article would make it sound more specific:

Ich trage eine Jeans und ein T‑Shirt. – A specific pair of jeans and a specific T‑shirt (e.g. right now).

In your sentence, Jeans und T‑Shirt describes a typical outfit, not particular items, so no article is natural.

Is Jeans singular or plural here, and what is its gender?

Jeans in German is a bit tricky:

Singular: die Jeans (one pair of jeans)
- Ich kaufe mir eine neue Jeans.
Plural: die Jeans (several pairs of jeans)
- Ich habe drei Jeans.

In your sentence (Ich trage oft Jeans und T‑Shirt), it’s understood as “jeans” in a general sense (“a pair of jeans”) – the number doesn’t matter, and there is no article to show singular or plural.

For gender, you can remember: (die) Jeans is feminine in the singular.

What case are Jeans und T‑Shirt in, and how can I tell?

They are in the accusative case as the direct objects of the verb tragen:

Wer / was trägt (wer?) ich? – What do I wear? → Jeans und T‑Shirt.

You don’t see the accusative directly here because:

Jeans doesn’t change form.
T‑Shirt is neuter, and without an article you don’t see a case ending.

So you have to infer the case from the role in the sentence: things being worn → direct objects → accusative.

What exactly does tragen mean here, and how is it different from anziehen?

In this context, tragen means “to wear (clothing)”:

Ich trage Jeans. – I am wearing jeans / I usually wear jeans.

Anziehen means “to put on (clothing)”:

Ich ziehe eine Jeans an. – I am putting on a pair of jeans.

So:

tragen → state (you are dressed in it)
anziehen → action (you are getting dressed in it)

Your sentence is about the typical state, so tragen is the right verb.

What does während do to the word order in während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt?

Während is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a subordinate clause and sends the conjugated verb to the end of that clause.

Main clause: Im Homeoffice trage ich oft Jeans und T‑Shirt, ...
Subordinate clause: ... während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt.

In the subordinate clause, the order is:

während
subject (mein Bruder)
other elements (im Anzug, zur Arbeit)
conjugated verb at the end (fährt)

That’s why you don’t say während mein Bruder fährt im Anzug zur Arbeit in standard German.

Is während here more like “while” (at the same time) or “whereas” (in contrast)?

In this sentence, während is best understood as “whereas,” expressing contrast:

Im Homeoffice trage ich oft Jeans und T‑Shirt, während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt.
→ I dress casually, whereas my brother goes to work in a suit.

Während can mean strictly “while/at the same time,” but in comparisons like this, it very often has that “whereas / in contrast” feeling. Context tells you which nuance is meant; here, the contrast in clothing makes it clear.

Why is it im Anzug and not einen Anzug or den Anzug?

With clothing that someone is wearing, German very often uses in + dative to describe the state:

im Anzug sein – to be in a suit
in Jeans sein – to be in jeans
im Pyjama schlafen – to sleep in pyjamas

So:

Mein Bruder fährt im Anzug zur Arbeit.
→ literally “My brother travels in (the) suit to work,” idiomatically “He goes to work in a suit.”

If you said Mein Bruder fährt einen Anzug zur Arbeit, it would be wrong, because einen Anzug would look like a direct object (“He drives a suit to work”), which makes no sense.

Why is it zur Arbeit and what does zur stand for?

Zur is the contracted form of zu der:

zu (to) + der (feminine dative article) → zur

Arbeit is feminine (die Arbeit) and used here with zu in the dative:

zur Arbeit fahren / gehen – to go to work (to your workplace)

So zur Arbeit literally means “to the work,” but idiomatically it’s “to work / to the office / to one’s job.”

Why do we use fahren in fährt zur Arbeit, and what does it imply?

Fahren means “to go / travel (by vehicle, bike, etc.).” In mein Bruder ... fährt zur Arbeit, it implies that he:

drives (a car),
takes a bus, train, or tram,
or rides a bike.

In German, gehen zur Arbeit is “to walk to work.” So the verb choice tells you something about how he gets there:

Er fährt zur Arbeit. – He goes to work (by some kind of transport).
Er geht zur Arbeit. – He walks to work.

Why is Bruder capitalized, and which case is mein Bruder?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, including family members used as common nouns:

der Bruder, die Arbeit, der Anzug, das Homeoffice, die Jeans, das T‑Shirt

Mein Bruder is the subject of the subordinate clause während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt, so it is in the nominative case:

Wer fährt zur Arbeit? – mein Bruder.

Could I change the order inside the second clause to ..., während mein Bruder zur Arbeit im Anzug fährt?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, and many native speakers might say it that way. In a German subordinate clause, everything except the finite verb can move around in the Mittelfeld (middle field):

..., während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt.
..., während mein Bruder zur Arbeit im Anzug fährt.

Both mean the same. The original version (im Anzug zur Arbeit) is simply a very natural, common order: manner (how?) + destination (where to?).

Is the comma before während mandatory in German?

Yes. In German, you must put a comma before a subordinate clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like während:

Im Homeoffice trage ich oft Jeans und T‑Shirt, während mein Bruder im Anzug zur Arbeit fährt.

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