Learn Hardcore German: Zu Hause repariere ich ein Regal mit Hammer und Schrauben, obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe. - At home I repair a shelf with a hammer and screws, although I have hardly any experience.

German has a verb‑second (V2) rule in main clauses: the conjugated verb is always in second position, but only one element can be in first position.

Here the first element is the adverbial phrase Zu Hause (place). Because that occupies the first position, the verb repariere must come next, and the subject ich is pushed after the verb:

Zu Hause (1st position) repariere (2nd: verb) ich …

If you start with the subject instead, you get:

Ich (1st) repariere (2nd) zu Hause ein Regal …

Both are correct; only the emphasis changes.

Can I also say Ich repariere zu Hause ein Regal mit Hammer und Schrauben …? Is there any difference?

Yes, that is absolutely correct:

Ich repariere zu Hause ein Regal mit Hammer und Schrauben, obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe.

The difference is mainly emphasis and rhythm:

Zu Hause repariere ich …
→ Emphasizes the place: At home, I repair a shelf (rather than elsewhere).
Ich repariere zu Hause …
→ Neutral, more like English word order, emphasis on I as the subject.

Grammatically, both are fine. German often puts information about time/place at the beginning to set the scene.

What is the difference between zu Hause and nach Hause? And what about zuhause?

zu Hause = at home (location, static)
- Ich bin zu Hause. – I am at home.
- Zu Hause repariere ich ein Regal. – At home, I repair a shelf.
nach Hause = (to) home (direction, movement)
- Ich gehe nach Hause. – I’m going home.
- Ich fahre nach Hause und repariere dann ein Regal.

About spelling:

Traditional / standard: zu Hause (two words).
zuhause (one word, lowercase) is also common and accepted as an adverb meaning at home.
In practice you will see both zu Hause and zuhause; style guides often prefer zu Hause in formal writing.

Why is there no article in mit Hammer und Schrauben? Why not mit einem Hammer und Schrauben?

Both are possible, but the nuance is different:

mit Hammer und Schrauben
→ Very general, like English with hammer and screws, focusing on the type of tools, not a specific hammer. This is common in German when talking about tools, instruments, or materials in a general way.
mit einem Hammer und Schrauben
→ With a hammer and screws – now the hammer feels like a specific, countable object. This is also correct and might sound a bit more concrete.

So the version without article is a normal, idiomatic way to speak about using tools in general.

Which case is used after mit, and how would it look with articles in this sentence?

The preposition mit always takes the dative case.

With articles, your phrase could be:

mit einem Hammer und Schrauben – mixed (dative singular + no article plural)
mit einem Hammer und Schrauben is already grammatical; if you add an article to Schrauben too, then:
- mit einem Hammer und den Schrauben (specific screws, already known)
- mit einem Hammer und einigen Schrauben (with a hammer and some screws)

Dative with articles would be:

mit dem Hammer – with the hammer
mit den Schrauben – with the screws

The bare nouns Hammer and Schrauben look like nominative, but their case is actually dative here because of mit.

Why is it obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe and not obwohl ich habe kaum Erfahrung?

obwohl is a subordinating conjunction. In German, subordinating conjunctions send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.

So the structure is:

obwohl
- subject + (other elements) + verb at the end

→ obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe

Putting the verb in second position (obwohl ich habe kaum Erfahrung) follows main‑clause word order and is incorrect after obwohl.

Other conjunctions that work the same way: weil, dass, wenn, ob, während, bevor, etc.

What exactly does kaum mean here? How is it different from wenig or fast nicht?

In obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe, kaum means hardly / barely / almost no.

Nuances:

kaum Erfahrung
→ I have hardly any experience; very, very little.
wenig Erfahrung
→ I have little experience; more neutral, a bit less extreme than kaum.
fast keine Erfahrung
→ almost no experience; very close in meaning to kaum Erfahrung.
fast nicht is usually followed by a verb or an entire action:
- Ich repariere fast nie etwas. – I hardly ever repair anything.

So here kaum intensifies Erfahrung and underlines that the speaker really doesn’t know much at all about this.

Why is there a comma before obwohl?

In German, a comma is required before a subordinate clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like obwohl.

Structure:

Main clause: Zu Hause repariere ich ein Regal mit Hammer und Schrauben
Subordinate clause: obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe

These two clauses must be separated by a comma:

…, obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe.

This is not optional punctuation; it is a fixed grammar rule.

Why is it ein Regal and not einen Regal? I thought direct objects take -en.

Direct objects do indeed take the accusative case, but the ending depends on the gender of the noun.

Regal is neuter: das Regal.
Neuter indefinite article:
- Nominative: ein Regal
- Accusative: ein Regal (same form)

For comparison:

Masculine: der Tisch
- Nominative: ein Tisch
- Accusative: einen Tisch

So with Regal (neuter), ein Regal is correct as the direct object; there is no -en.

What exactly does Regal mean? Is it a shelf or a bookcase?

Regal is a general word for a shelf unit / shelving unit, often standing on the floor:

ein Regal – can be a bookcase, a storage shelf, etc.

Some related words:

das Bücherregal – a bookcase, shelf for books
das Wandregal – a wall‑mounted shelf unit
das Regalbrett – a single shelf board

In many contexts, ein Regal can be translated simply as a shelf or a set of shelves, depending on what sounds natural in English.

Why is the present tense used (repariere) if this is happening right now? Doesn’t German have a progressive form like I am repairing?

German normally uses the simple present for actions happening right now:

Ich repariere ein Regal. – I am repairing a shelf. / I repair a shelf.

There is no standard, separate progressive tense like English I am repairing. The context usually makes it clear whether it is:

something happening now, or
a repeated / regular action.

Colloquially, some dialects and regions use ich bin am Reparieren, but this is not standard written German. The neutral, correct form is ich repariere.

Are there alternatives to obwohl? How do they differ from trotzdem?

Yes, there are alternatives and related words:

obwohl – subordinating conjunction (although / even though):
- Zu Hause repariere ich ein Regal, obwohl ich kaum Erfahrung habe.
obgleich, obschon – more formal/literary near‑synonyms of obwohl.
trotzdem – adverb meaning nevertheless / in spite of that. It does not introduce a subordinate clause; it starts or appears in a main clause:
- Ich habe kaum Erfahrung, trotzdem repariere ich zu Hause ein Regal.
  (Two main clauses, with normal V2 order after trotzdem.)

So:

obwohl = although, introduces a subordinating clause with verb at the end.
trotzdem = nevertheless, connects two main clauses, verb stays in second position.