Questions & Answers about Раньше Иван был юристом.
Why is it юристом instead of just юрист?
Юристом is in the Instrumental case. In Russian, when you state what someone's profession was in the past using был (was) or стать (to become), the profession takes the Instrumental case. Because юрист is a masculine noun ending in a consonant, it takes the -ом ending.
Where is the exact translation for "used to" in this sentence?
If the sentence was about a woman, like Anna, would the word юристом change?
No, the word юристом would stay exactly the same! Many profession words in Russian (like юрист, врач, менеджер) are grammatically masculine and don't change their noun endings based on the person's actual gender. You would only change the verb to match the feminine subject: Раньше Анна была юристом.
Could I put раньше after Иван?
Yes, Иван раньше был юристом is also completely correct. Russian word order is quite flexible. Putting раньше at the very beginning of the sentence just emphasizes the time frame right away.