Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой брат работает в удалённом формате и редко ездит в офис. - My brother works in a remote format and rarely goes to the office.

Мой брат is in the nominative case.
The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence – the person or thing doing the action. Here, my brother is the one who работает (works) and ездит (goes), so he must be in the nominative.

You can recognize this by:

The base dictionary form брат (brother) is nominative singular.
The possessive pronoun мой agrees with брат in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative).

What form and tense is работает, and what does it tell us about the action?

Работает is:

3rd person singular
Present tense
Imperfective aspect
From the infinitive работать (to work)

In Russian, the present tense of an imperfective verb usually expresses:

ongoing action (he is working now)
or regular / habitual action (he works, he usually works)

In this sentence, the meaning is habitual: My brother works in a remote format, i.e. that is his usual mode of work, not just right now.

Why do we say в удалённом формате, and could we just say работает удалённо?

В удалённом формате literally means in a remote format and sounds a bit more formal or official, often used in business or HR contexts.

You can absolutely say:

Мой брат работает удалённо.
Мой брат работает дистанционно.

Those mean My brother works remotely and are very natural.
The nuance:

в удалённом формате – more bureaucratic / formal, like a description in a contract or company policy.
удалённо / дистанционно – shorter, more neutral and common in everyday speech.

So all of these are possible, just with slightly different style/register.

Why is the preposition в used in в удалённом формате? Could it be на удалённом формате?

With формат (format) in this sense, Russian uses в + prepositional case:

в формате = in the format (of)

The pattern is similar to English: in a remote format.
На формате does not work here; на is used with some other nouns (for example, на работе – at work, на лекции – at a lecture), but not with формат in this meaning.

So:

в удалённом формате – correct and standard
на удалённом формате – incorrect

What case is в удалённом формате, and how is that different from в офис?

В удалённом формате:

uses в
- prepositional case
формат → формате
удалённый → удалённом (adjective agreeing with формат)

This structure describes a state or mode: in a remote format.

В офис:

uses в
- accusative case
офис stays офис in accusative singular (same ending)
It’s used with a verb of motion (ездит) and indicates direction / destination: to the office.

So:

в + prepositional → location/state (in a format, in the city)
в + accusative → direction (to the office, into the city)

Why is it ездит в офис and not едет в офис here?

Russian motion verbs distinguish between:

unidirectional (one specific trip in one direction): ехать
multidirectional / repeated: ездить

Ездит is 3rd person singular from ездить and is used for:

habitual / repeated trips: He often goes/commutes by transport.
movement in different directions over time.

In this sentence, he rarely goes to the office describes a repeated pattern (how his life is arranged), not one specific trip, so Russian uses ездит.
If you were talking about right now, this time, you’d say:

Сейчас он едет в офис. – He is going to the office (right now).

Could we say редко ходит в офис instead of редко ездит в офис?

You could say редко ходит в офис, but it slightly changes the nuance.

ездить – to go by transport (car, bus, metro, etc.), or generally “to travel”
ходить – to go on foot (walk), or “to go” in general, with less focus on transport

If he commutes by car, bus, etc., ездит в офис is more precise and natural.
If the context is clearly on foot, ходит в офис would be fine.

In modern speech, people sometimes use ездить more broadly for commuting, even if they mix walking and transport.

Why is it в офис, not в офисе?

This is the classic Russian motion vs. location contrast:

в офис (accusative) — to the office, shows direction / movement toward the office
- Он ездит в офис. – He goes/commutes to the office.
в офисе (prepositional) — in the office, shows location / being inside
- Он работает в офисе. – He works in the office.

In the sentence, the verb ездит is a verb of motion, so Russian uses в + accusative: в офис.

What does редко mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Редко means rarely / seldom – it describes how often something happens.

In this sentence:

…и редко ездит в офис. – and (he) rarely goes to the office.

Word order with редко is quite flexible. You could say:

Мой брат редко ездит в офис.
Редко мой брат ездит в офис. (more emphatic, slightly literary)
Он ездит в офис редко. (emphasis at the end: he goes there, but not often)

The most neutral and common is placing редко directly before the verb: редко ездит.

Why is there ё in удалённом? Can it also be written with е?

The “correct” full spelling is удалённом with ё, pronounced [удалЁнном] (stress on ё).

In everyday Russian, especially in print, ё is often written as е, so you might see удаленном.
However, the pronunciation stays the same: still [ё], still stressed.

Important points:

е and ё are different sounds: е = ye; ё = yo.
Dictionaries and learning materials usually show ё to help with correct stress and pronunciation.
Native texts may “drop” the dots on ё, but learners should mentally restore them.

How do you pronounce this whole sentence naturally?

Pronunciation with main stresses marked in caps:

МОЙ брат раБОтает в удаЛЁнном форМАте и РЕДко ЕЗдит в Офис.

Approximate breakdown:

Мой – moy (like “moy” in “Moy-rah”)
брат – brat (short “a”)
работает – ra-BO-ta-yet (4 syllables: ra-BO-ta-yet)
в – short, like English “v” attached to the next word
удалённом – u-da-LYON-nom (yo sound in лён)
формате – for-MA-te
и – like English “ee”
редко – RED-ko
ездит – YEZ-dit
в офис – v OFis (stress on О)

Why does удалённом end in -ом?

Удалённом is an adjective form of удалённый (remote), and it must agree with формате (format):

формат → формате: masculine, singular, prepositional case
So the adjective also becomes masculine, singular, prepositional: удалённый → удалённом

Pattern:

masculine singular adjective, prepositional case → ending -ом (after most consonants) Examples:
в новом доме – in a new house
в русском языке – in the Russian language
в удалённом формате – in a remote format