В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис, как решит начальник.

On weekdays I either work at home or go to the office, depending on what the boss decides.

Breakdown of В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис, как решит начальник.

• я: I
• в: to
• дома: at home
• ездить: to go
• как: how
• работать: to work
• в: on
• офис: the office
• решить: to decide
• начальник: the boss
• будни: the weekdays
• то … то: now ... now

Questions & Answers about В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис, как решит начальник.

What does «В будни» mean exactly, and how is it different from «по будням»?

«В будни» means “on weekdays / during the weekdays”. It’s a time expression using:

• в + Accusative plural → в будни (“in/at/on weekdays”).

«По будням» also means “on weekdays”, and in most everyday contexts they're interchangeable.

Tiny nuance:

• «В будни» can feel a bit more neutral or slightly bookish.
• «По будням» is very common in spoken Russian and can emphasize a repeated pattern: what usually happens on weekdays.

In this sentence you could say:

• В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис…
• По будням я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис…

Both are correct and natural.

Why is it «будни» and not something like «буднях»?

Russian normally uses в + Accusative to talk about days/time periods:

• в понедельник – on Monday
• в выходные – on the weekend
• в будни – on weekdays

«В буднях» would be Prepositional plural and sounds unnatural here. It would mean something like “in the weekdays” in a very literal, almost poetic or incorrect way. For regular time expressions, stick to в будни or по будням.

What does the structure «то … то …» mean here?

«То … то …» is a correlative pair that means something like:

• “either … or …”
• “sometimes … sometimes …”
• “now … now …” (in the sense of alternating)

In this sentence:

• то работаю дома, то езжу в офис
  ≈ “I either work from home or go to the office / Sometimes I work from home, sometimes I go to the office.”

It emphasizes alternation between two options.

Is «то … то …» the same as «или … или …»?

Not exactly.

• или … или … = “either … or …” in a more logical/choice sense:

  • Или я работаю дома, или я еду в офис.
    “Either I work at home or I go to the office.” (a clear choice, often one-time)

• то … то … = focuses on alternation / fluctuation:

  • Я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис.
    “Sometimes I work at home, sometimes I go to the office (it varies).”

In this sentence, «то … то …» is better because it describes a repeated, changing pattern, not a single logical choice.

Why is «я» only written once, before the first «то», and not repeated?

In Russian, if the subject is the same for multiple verbs in a sentence, it’s usually mentioned only once:

• Я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис.
  Here, я is the subject of both работаю and езжу.

You could say «я то работаю дома, то я езжу в офис», but it sounds clumsy and unnatural. Native speakers normally omit repeated subjects if they’re obvious from context.

Why is it «работаю дома» and not «работаю в доме»?

«Дома» here is an adverb meaning “at home”, not “in a house” literally.

• работать дома = “to work at home / from home” (location, your home as a place)
• работать в доме = “to work in a house / inside the building” (more physical/architectural, not necessarily your home)

In the context of office vs home working, the standard phrase is «работать дома» (“work from home”).

What is the difference between «дома» and «домой»?

Both are related to «дом» (“home/house”), but:

• дома = “at home” (location, where?)

  • Я работаю дома. – I work at home.
  • Он уже дома. – He is already at home.

• домой = “(to) home” (direction, where to?)

  • Я иду домой. – I am going home.
  • Она поехала домой. – She went home.

In the sentence «я то работаю дома», we’re talking about location → дома, not direction.

Why is it «езжу в офис» and not «еду в офис»?

Both ехать and ездить mean “to go (by vehicle)”, but:

• ехать (еду, едешь…) = one specific trip, movement right now / in one direction.
• ездить (езжу, ездишь…) = repeated / habitual / back-and-forth trips.

The sentence describes a regular pattern on weekdays, so ездить is correct:

• Я езжу в офис. – I (regularly) go to the office (by transport).

If you said:

• Сейчас я еду в офис. – I am going to the office now (this trip).

So «езжу» here emphasizes habit / regularity.

Why is it «в офис» but «дома» (without «в»)?

Because «офис» is used like a normal concrete place, while «дома» is an adverb.

• в офис = “to the office” (preposition + Accusative)

  • движение: ехать / ездить в офис – to go (by transport) to the office.

• дома = “at home” (adverb)

  • работать дома – to work at home.

If you wanted a similar structure to в офис, you could say «в офисе» (“in the office”), but here we’re talking about going to the office (ездить в офис), not being inside it.

What does «как решит начальник» mean literally, and how is it functioning in the sentence?

Literally, «как решит начальник» means:

• “as the boss decides”
• “however the boss decides”
• “depending on what the boss decides”

Function in the sentence:

• В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис, как решит начальник.
  → On weekdays I either work from home or go to the office, depending on what the boss decides.

So this clause explains what determines whether you work from home or go to the office.

Why is «решит» (perfective future) used instead of «решает» (imperfective present)?

Решит (perfective) here expresses a single act of deciding each time the situation comes up, with a future-like nuance:

• как решит начальник ≈ “how the boss (will) decide(s) [in each case]”.

Imperfective решает would sound more like:

• как начальник решает – “how the boss (generally) makes decisions” (focus on process/habit of deciding, not on each concrete decision).

In this context, speakers usually think in terms of each specific decision about your schedule, so the perfective решит is natural and idiomatic.

Why is there a comma before «как решит начальник»?

«как решит начальник» is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause) introduced by «как» in the sense of “how / in the way that”.

In Russian, subordinate clauses are normally separated from the main clause by a comma:

• Main clause: В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис
• Subordinate clause: как решит начальник

So you must write:

• …то езжу в офис, как решит начальник. ✔️

Could «как решит начальник» mean “because the boss decides so”?

Not exactly. Its core meaning is:

• “in whatever way the boss decides / depending on the boss’s decision”

It doesn’t directly mean “because” (that would be «потому что начальник так решает / решил»).

However, in practice, it does imply that the boss’s decision is the reason for the alternation. So semantically there is a causal flavor, but grammatically it’s about manner/condition (“how, in what way”) rather than pure cause.

Can I change the word order, for example: «Я в будни то дома работаю, то в офис езжу, как решит начальник»?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible, and your version is grammatically correct:

• Я в будни то дома работаю, то в офис езжу, как решит начальник.

This keeps the same meaning, but the original order:

• В будни я то работаю дома, то езжу в офис…

is a bit more neutral and natural. Moving «дома» and «в офис» earlier focuses a bit more strongly on the locations:

• то дома работаю, то в офис езжу
  emphasizes: one time at home, another time to the office.

Both versions are understandable and acceptable.