Breakdown of Она обычно работает дома, а сейчас идёт в офис.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
а
and (contrastive)
дома
at home
сейчас
now
работать
to work
обычно
usually
в
in / to (direction)
офис
office
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
Questions & Answers about Она обычно работает дома, а сейчас идёт в офис.
Why is идёт translated as "is walking" rather than just "is going"?
The verb идти (which gives us идёт) specifically means going on foot in one direction right now. In Russian, you must specify how you are traveling. If she were taking a bus, a train, or driving to the office, we would have to use едет instead.
Why is it в офис and not в офисе?
Because she is moving towards a destination. When you show motion towards a place (answering "where to?"), you use в plus the Accusative case. If she were already working inside the office, we would use the Prepositional case (в офисе). Since офис is a masculine noun for a non-living thing, its Accusative form looks exactly like its basic dictionary form.
Why use а for "and" here instead of и?
The word а is used when there is a slight contrast or change in situation. It is often translated as "but" or "and/while". Here, we are contrasting what she usually does (works at home) with what she is doing right now (going to the office). The word и is used to simply add similar things together without any contrast.
Why is "at home" translated as дома instead of в доме?
The word дома is a special adverb that simply means "at home" or "at one's place". If you said в доме, it would sound like you are emphasizing being physically inside a house building, rather than just being at home.
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