Learn Russian: Раньше он работал на заводе.

Раньше он работал на заводе.

Previously he worked at a plant.

Breakdown of Раньше он работал на заводе.

он

he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)

работать

to work

на

on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)

завод

factory

Questions & Answers about Раньше он работал на заводе.

Does раньше always translate to "previously"?

It literally means "earlier," but it is the most common way to say "previously," "in the past," or "used to" in Russian. Whenever you want to say "He used to work...", you will use Раньше он работал....

How do we form the past tense for работать (to work) here?

To make a verb past tense, you drop the -ть from the dictionary form and add a past tense ending. Because the subject is он (he), we add the masculine ending -л, making it работал.

Why do we use the preposition на instead of в for "at a plant"?

While в usually means "in" and на means "on," Russian uses на for certain places or activities, especially open spaces and some industrial workplaces. Just like we say на работе (at work), we say на заводе (at a plant or factory).

Why is there an -е at the end of заводе?

The basic dictionary word is завод. Because we are talking about the location where an action happens (answering "where?"), we must use the Prepositional case. For most masculine nouns ending in a consonant, this means adding an -е to the end.