Learn Hardcore Japanese: kaisya no kaeri ni konbini de pan wo kaimasu. - On the way home from the company, I buy bread at the convenience store.

Literally: “on the return (trip) of the company”, i.e. on the way home from work / from the office.
In natural English: “on my way home from work” (or “after work, on my way home”).

Why is の used between 会社 and 帰り?

の here links two nouns:

会社の帰り = “the return related to the company”

This is a common pattern: Noun + の + Noun, where the first noun describes or limits the second:

日本の会社 – a Japanese company
駅の近く – near the station
会社の帰り – the return (trip) from the company

So の is not “of” in a strict possessive sense; it just makes 会社 function as an adjective modifying 帰り.

Why is there に after 帰り in 会社の帰りに?

Here に marks the time or occasion when something happens.

７時に食べます – I eat at 7 o’clock.
学校のあとに勉強します – I study after school.
会社の帰りにパンを買います – I buy bread on my way home from work.

So 帰り (the “returning” time/phase) is treated like a time/occasion, and に attaches to it: “during/at the time of going home.”

Could I say 会社から帰るときにコンビニでパンを買います instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can. The meaning is very close.

会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買います。
– On my way home from work, I buy bread at a convenience store.
会社から帰るときにコンビニでパンを買います。
– When I go home from the company, I buy bread at a convenience store.

Nuance:

会社の帰りに feels shorter and a bit more natural in casual everyday speech.
会社から帰るときに sounds a bit more explicit and slightly more formal/bookish because of the full verb phrase 帰るとき (“when I go home”).

In practice, both are fine and commonly understood.

What is the difference between コンビニで and コンビニに?

コンビニで – at the convenience store, place where the action happens
- コンビニでパンを買います。 – I buy bread at a convenience store.
コンビニに – to the convenience store, destination
- コンビニに行きます。 – I go to the convenience store.

Rule of thumb:

Use で for the location of an action.
Use に for destination, existence, or arrival.

So in your sentence you need で, because 買います (buy) is an action done at that place.

What does コンビニ mean exactly? Is it slang?

コンビニ is a common abbreviation of コンビニエンスストア (convenience store).
It’s not slang; it’s standard, everyday Japanese. People almost always say コンビニ, not the full form.

Examples:

コンビニでお弁当を買いました。 – I bought a lunch box at a convenience store.
家の近くにコンビニがあります。 – There is a convenience store near my house.

Why is を used after パン?

を marks the direct object of the verb – the thing directly affected by the action.

パンを買います。 – I buy bread.
本を読みます。 – I read a book.
水を飲みます。 – I drink water.

So パンを tells you that bread is what is being bought.

In very casual spoken Japanese, を can sometimes be dropped when it’s obvious, but learners should keep using it; it’s important for clarity and correctness.

What tense is 買います? Does it mean “buy” or “will buy”?

買います is the polite non‑past form of the verb 買う (to buy).
Non‑past in Japanese covers both present and future:

Habitual:
- 毎日パンを買います。 – I buy bread every day.
Planned/future:
- あとでパンを買います。 – I will buy bread later.

In your sentence, context decides whether it’s a regular habit (“I (usually) buy bread…”) or a future plan (“I’ll buy bread (today)…”). Japanese doesn’t mark that difference in the verb form itself.

Where is the subject “I” in this sentence?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. So:

会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買います。

is understood as:

（私は）会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買います。
– I buy bread at a convenience store on my way home from work.

You can add 私は explicitly, but it’s not necessary unless you need contrast or emphasis (e.g., “As for me, I buy bread…”).

Can I change the word order, like コンビニで会社の帰りにパンを買います?

Japanese word order is flexible for the parts before the verb, but not completely free.

Grammatically possible variants include:

会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買います。 (original, very natural)
会社の帰りにパンをコンビニで買います。 (OK, still natural)
コンビニで会社の帰りにパンを買います。 (understandable, but sounds a bit less natural)

Constraints:

The verb must come at the end: …買います.
Time expressions (like 会社の帰りに) usually come earlier, before place and object.
Over‑shuffling can sound awkward even if the particles are formally correct.

So it’s safest and most natural to keep something close to the original order.

Why is it 会社の帰り and not 会社の帰る?

Because 帰り is a noun (“the return / the way back”), while 帰る is a verb (“to return, to go home”).

After の, you need a noun to complete the pattern Noun + の + Noun:

会社の帰り – the return (trip) from work
会社の人 – company person, coworker
会社の電話 – company phone

会社の帰る is ungrammatical, because 帰る is a verb and cannot directly fill that noun slot.

What is the politeness level of 買います? Is this sentence polite or casual?

買います is the polite -ます form of 買う.

Polite: 買います
Plain/dictionary: 買う

So the sentence:

会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買います。

is polite, appropriate for talking to people you’re not very close to, in class, at work, etc.

A more casual version would be:

会社の帰りにコンビニでパンを買う。

Why is there no particle after 会社?

会社 is not standing alone; it’s part of the noun phrase 会社の帰り.

Structure:

会社
- の
  - 帰り → one unit: 会社の帰り (“on the way home from work”)

You only add particles (like に, で, は, が) to the whole phrase, not to the individual parts inside it. So you correctly get:

会社の帰りに (particle に attached to the entire phrase)

You would not say 会社にの帰り or similar; that would be incorrect.

In English we say “a bread” / “some bread”. How does パン work here? Is it singular or plural?

Japanese nouns generally don’t mark singular/plural and there are no articles “a / the / some”:

パン can mean:
- bread (in general)
- a piece/loaf of bread
- some bread

Context and additional words show the quantity:

パンを買います。 – I buy bread / I’ll get some bread.
パンを一つ買います。 – I’ll buy one (bread item).
パンを二つ買います。 – I’ll buy two.

So パン in your sentence just means “bread” (or “some bread / a bread item”), and Japanese doesn’t force you to specify more unless it matters.

Can I say 会社の帰り道にコンビニでパンを買います? What’s the nuance of 帰り道?

Yes, that’s natural:

会社の帰り道にコンビニでパンを買います。
– I buy bread at a convenience store on the way home from work.

Differences:

帰り – “the return, the going home” (more general)
帰り道 – literally “the way back”, focusing more on the route / road / path itself

Both are common. 帰り道 gives a slightly stronger image of being physically on the route home.