Learn Hardcore Russian: В русском языке профессия после глаголов «быть» и «работать» часто стоит в творительном падеже. - In Russian, a profession after the verbs “to be” and “to work” often stands in the instrumental case.

русском is the adjective русский (Russian) in the prepositional case (о ком? о чём? – about whom? about what?).
языке is the noun язык (language) also in the prepositional case.

The preposition в (in) with the meaning “in / within (a language, sphere, place)” normally requires the prepositional case, so в русском языке is a standard way to say “in Russian (as a language).”

Why is профессия in the singular if the sentence talks about professions in general?

Russian often uses a singular noun to talk about a whole class of things in general, especially in abstract statements like grammar rules.

So:

профессия here does not mean “one particular profession.”
It means “a profession / a job title as a type of word” in general.

In English we might say “a profession after the verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to work’ often appears in the instrumental case” or even “professions … often appear…”; Russian is comfortable saying just профессия in the singular to express this general rule.

What does после глаголов «быть» и «работать» mean exactly? How can something be “after verbs”?

Literally, после глаголов «быть» и «работать» means “after the verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to work’.”

Here после refers to word order in the sentence, not time. It means:

when a profession word (like врач, учитель, инженер) comes after the verbs быть or работать in a sentence,
then it often appears in the instrumental case.

For example:

Он был врачом. – He was a doctor.
(врачом comes after был.)
Она работает учителем. – She works as a teacher.
(учителем comes after работает.)

So “after the verbs” means in the position following those verbs in the sentence.

What does стоит в творительном падеже literally mean? Why is the verb стоит (“stands”) used here?

Literally, стоит в творительном падеже means “stands in the instrumental case.”

In Russian grammar language:

стоять в падеже is a common idiom meaning “to be in a certain case”.
So профессия … стоит в творительном падеже = “the profession word is in the instrumental case.”

It doesn’t imply physical standing; it’s just a conventional way of talking about the form of a word in a sentence:

это слово стоит в родительном падеже – this word is in the genitive case
это существительное стоит во множественном числе – this noun is in the plural

What is the творительный падеж (instrumental case), and what is its role here?

The творительный падеж (instrumental case) is one of the six main Russian cases. Among other things, it is used:

To express “with / by means of”:
- писать ручкой – to write with a pen
To express a role, function, or capacity after certain verbs:
- работать учителем – to work as a teacher
- быть директором – to be a director (in the role of director)

In this sentence, we’re talking about the second use: when you describe someone’s profession or role after verbs like быть and работать, Russian often uses the instrumental to show that this is a role / capacity:

Он работает инженером. – He works as an engineer.
Она была врачом. – She was (worked / served as) a doctor.

If a profession “often stands in the instrumental case”, does that mean sometimes it’s not instrumental? What’s the difference between Он был врач and Он был врачом?

Yes. With быть, both nominative and instrumental are possible and can overlap in meaning, but there is a tendency:

Instrumental (врачом) often emphasizes a role, capacity, occupation, sometimes implying temporary / social role:
- Он был врачом. – He was (worked as) a doctor.
Nominative (врач) can sound more definitional or categorical (“he was a doctor by profession/identity”), though in modern speech this difference is often weak and context-dependent:
- Он был врач. – He was a doctor. (more neutral, like a plain statement of what he was)

With работать, however, the instrumental is standard:

Он работает врачом. – Natural and correct.
Он работает врач. – Feels wrong or very odd in standard Russian.

So the rule in the sentence is mainly about this normal, expected instrumental after быть and especially работать when you’re naming a profession.

Can this instrumental-for-profession pattern also be used with other verbs, not just быть and работать?

Yes. The instrumental case for a profession / role also appears with several other verbs of becoming / seeming / appearing or functioning as something, for example:

стать – to become
- Он стал врачом. – He became a doctor.
являться (formal) – to be
- Он является врачом. – He is a doctor.
становиться – to become
- Она становилась учителем. – She was becoming a teacher.
оказаться – to turn out to be
- Он оказался хорошим специалистом. – He turned out to be a good specialist.

In these cases, the profession or role is also normally in the instrumental because it expresses the role or capacity of the subject.

Is the Russian word order профессия после глаголов … часто стоит … normal? Could it be профессия часто стоит … после глаголов … instead?

Yes, the given word order is normal. Russian word order is relatively flexible, and both are possible:

В русском языке профессия после глаголов «быть» и «работать» часто стоит в творительном падеже.
В русском языке профессия часто стоит в творительном падеже после глаголов «быть» и «работать».

The difference is mainly stylistic / rhythmic, not grammatical:

In the original, the phrase после глаголов «быть» и «работать» is placed early to clearly mark which position in the sentence we are talking about.
The alternative order focuses first on часто стоит в творительном падеже and then adds the condition после глаголов….

Both sound natural in a grammar explanation.

Can you show some concrete example sentences that illustrate this rule?

Yes. Here are some typical examples:

With быть (often in past tense, because present есть is usually dropped):
- В детстве он был врачом. – In his childhood he was a doctor.
- Её отец был инженером. – Her father was an engineer.
- Моя мама была учительницей. – My mother was a (female) teacher.
With работать:
- Он работает врачом. – He works as a doctor.
- Она работает журналисткой. – She works as a (female) journalist.
- Мы работаем программистами. – We work as programmers.

In every example, the profession (врачом, инженером, учительницей, журналисткой, программистами) is in the instrumental case and comes after быть / работать.

Does this rule apply in all tenses and aspects of быть and работать?

Functionally, yes: whenever you use быть or работать to connect a subject with a profession, that profession is normally instrumental, regardless of tense or aspect:

быть:
- Он был врачом. – He was a doctor. (past)
- Он будет врачом. – He will be a doctor. (future)
- (Present usually drops есть: Он врач., but if you used it: Он есть врачом sounds unnatural; people either use nominative Он врач or a different structure.)
работать:
- Он работал врачом. – He worked as a doctor. (past)
- Он работает врачом. – He works as a doctor. (present)
- Он будет работать врачом. – He will work as a doctor. (future)
- Он работал врачом много лет. – He has worked / was working as a doctor for many years. (imperfective)

So in actual sentences with professions, you should almost always put the profession in the instrumental after работать, and very often (though not absolutely always) after быть as well.