Learn Hardcore German: Der Teilzeitjob im Café ist praktisch, aber ich suche langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle in meinem Beruf. - The part-time job at the café is practical, but in the long term I am looking for a full-time position in my profession.

Der Teilzeitjob = the part‑time job
→ The speaker is talking about a specific, already known part‑time job (the one they currently have in the café).
eine Vollzeitstelle = a full‑time position
→ This is not a specific, already fixed job. They are looking for some full‑time position in their profession, not one particular advertised job everyone already knows about.

Grammatically, you could say ein Teilzeitjob or die Vollzeitstelle in other contexts, but in this sentence the contrast between:

the current, concrete situation (der Teilzeitjob)
and
a hoped‑for future situation (eine Vollzeitstelle)
is what makes these article choices natural.

Why are Teilzeitjob and Vollzeitstelle written as one long word and capitalized?

German loves compound nouns: you often glue words together to form one new noun.

Teilzeit (part‑time) + Job (job) → Teilzeitjob
Vollzeit (full‑time) + Stelle (position/post) → Vollzeitstelle

Some key points:

One word: In standard German, compounds are written as one word, not split or hyphenated (except in special cases).
Capitalization: All nouns are capitalized in German, so Teilzeitjob, Vollzeitstelle, Beruf, Café all start with capital letters.
Gender from the last part:
- der Job → der Teilzeitjob
- die Stelle → die Vollzeitstelle

So the last element determines gender and plural forms, even if the compound gets very long.

Why do we say im Café? What does im stand for, and which case is used?

im is a contraction of in dem.

in (in) + dem (the, dative singular, neuter/masculine) → im

Café is neuter: das Café.
The full, non‑contracted form would be:

Der Teilzeitjob in dem Café ist praktisch ...

But in normal German you almost always use the contraction:

Der Teilzeitjob im Café ist praktisch ...

The case is dative, because:

in
- dative → location (where something is)
  - Ich arbeite im Café. = I work in the café (location)

If it were about movement into the café, you’d use the accusative:

Ich gehe ins Café. = in das Café (accusative, movement into)

Is the accent in Café important? How is Café different from Kaffee?

Café is a loanword from French and officially written with an accent in standard German.

das Café = the café, the coffee shop (the place you go to)
der Kaffee = coffee (the drink)

Examples:

Wir treffen uns im Café. – We’re meeting in the café.
Ich trinke einen Kaffee. – I’m drinking a coffee.

In practice, you’ll often see Cafe without the accent, especially on signs or online, and it is widely understood. But in careful writing, Café is preferred.

You would not use Kaffee to mean the place; it’s the beverage.

What exactly does praktisch mean in this sentence?

Here, praktisch means convenient, handy, or useful in a practical sense:

Der Teilzeitjob im Café ist praktisch
→ The part‑time job in the café is convenient/practical (e.g. good hours, close to home, easy to combine with studies).

Be careful: praktisch has a few uses:

Adjective/adverb = practical / convenient / useful
- Das ist eine praktische Lösung. – That’s a practical solution.
- Der Bus ist praktischer als das Auto hier. – The bus is more convenient than the car here.
Adverb = practically / almost
- Das ist praktisch unmöglich. – That’s practically/almost impossible.

In your sentence it’s clearly meaning convenient/useful, not almost.

What is the difference between Teilzeitjob, Vollzeitstelle, Beruf, Job, and Arbeit?

These words overlap in English but have different nuances in German:

Teilzeitjob
- Literally: part‑time job
- Any job with reduced hours. Often a bit more casual or temporary, but not necessarily.
Vollzeitstelle
- Literally: full‑time position/post
- Sounds more formal than Vollzeitjob. Suggests an official position, usually with a contract, benefits, etc.
Beruf
- Your profession, trained occupation or field (what you studied or are qualified in).
- Ich bin Lehrer von Beruf. – I am a teacher by profession.
Job
- Very general, often informal: job, gig, sometimes part‑time or student jobs.
- Can also be used more broadly (Denglisch influence):
  - Ich habe einen neuen Job. – I have a new job. (could be quite serious)
Arbeit
- The concept of work (uncountable), or work as an activity.
- Also used in some fixed phrases for “job”:
  - Ich suche Arbeit. – I’m looking for work. (not one specific “position”)

In the sentence:

Teilzeitjob = current, more casual part‑time job in a café
Vollzeitstelle in meinem Beruf = a proper full‑time position in the speaker’s qualified field/profession

Why is it eine Vollzeitstelle but in meinem Beruf? Why different cases?

Two different grammar structures are involved:

eine Vollzeitstelle – accusative (direct object)
- The verb suchen is transitive and normally takes a direct object in the accusative:
  - Ich suche eine Vollzeitstelle. – I’m looking for a full‑time position.
    (was suche ich? → eine Vollzeitstelle, accusative object)
- Vollzeitstelle is feminine:
  - nominative: eine Vollzeitstelle
  - accusative: eine Vollzeitstelle (same form for feminine)
in meinem Beruf – dative (object of a preposition of location)
- The preposition in can take:
  - dative = location (where?)
  - accusative = direction/movement (where to?)
Here it’s about a field/area where the job is, not moving into it, so it’s dative:
- in meinem Beruf = in my profession/field (static location in a professional sense)
- Beruf is masculine:
  - dative masculine with a possessive (mein) → meinem Beruf

Compare:

Ich arbeite in meinem Beruf. – I work in my profession. (dative, location)
Ich gehe in einen neuen Beruf. – I’m moving into a new profession. (accusative, movement/transition)

How do the endings in meinem Beruf work?

meinem Beruf is dative singular masculine with a possessive determiner.

Breakdown:

base possessive: mein (my) – same family as ein
noun: der Beruf (masculine)

Dative singular endings with possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr) are:

masculine: -em → meinem Beruf
neuter: -em → meinem Auto
feminine: -er → meiner Mutter
plural: -en → meinen Eltern

So:

nominative: mein Beruf
accusative: meinen Beruf
dative: meinem Beruf
genitive: meines Berufs

In your sentence, in + (where?) → dative → in meinem Beruf.

What kind of word is langfristig, and where can it go in the sentence?

langfristig is an adjective that is being used adverbially here, meaning in the long term / in the long run.

In the sentence:

... aber ich suche langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle ...
→ langfristig modifies suche (how/with what time horizon am I searching?).

Typical positions:

Middle field (very common):
- Ich suche langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle in meinem Beruf.
At the beginning for emphasis on time frame:
- Langfristig suche ich eine Vollzeitstelle in meinem Beruf.
At the end (more marked, often contrastive or afterthought):
- Ich suche eine Vollzeitstelle in meinem Beruf, langfristig. (slightly unusual, sounds like an added clarification)

The version in your sentence (after the verb, before the object) is the most natural neutral word order.

Could we say eine langfristige Vollzeitstelle instead? What would change in meaning?

Yes, you can say eine langfristige Vollzeitstelle, but the nuance shifts.

ich suche langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle
→ The search is long‑term / in the long run. It expresses your time horizon or plan: at some point in the future, you want a full‑time job in your profession.
ich suche eine langfristige Vollzeitstelle
→ The job itself is long‑term. You want a position that will last a long time, e.g. a permanent or very stable job rather than something temporary or fixed‑term.

In many real situations, both may be true, but grammatically:

langfristig (adverb) = modifies the verb (suchen)
langfristige (adjective) = modifies the noun (Vollzeitstelle)

Why doesn’t aber send the verb to the end of the clause, like weil or dass?

Because aber is a coordinating conjunction (like und, oder, denn, sondern), not a subordinating conjunction.

Coordinating conjunctions join two main clauses and do not change the word order of the clause that follows:
- ..., aber ich suche langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle.
  – subject (ich) comes first, then the verb (suche).
Subordinating conjunctions (like weil, dass, obwohl, wenn) send the conjugated verb to the end of their clause:
- ..., weil ich langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle suche.
- ..., dass ich langfristig eine Vollzeitstelle suche.

So:

aber → normal main‑clause word order: aber ich suche ...
weil/dass/... → verb‑final in that clause: weil ich ... suche / dass ich ... suche