البوابة مغلقة.

In Arabic, the present tense of to be is usually not written or spoken in simple statements.

So البوابة مغلقة literally looks like the gate closed, but it means the gate is closed.

This kind of sentence is called a nominal sentence in Arabic: a noun first, then information about it.

If you wanted a past or future meaning, Arabic would use a verb, for example:

• كانت البوابة مغلقة = The gate was closed
• ستكون البوابة مغلقة = The gate will be closed

البوابة means the gate or the gateway.

It is related to باب, which means door or gate, but بوابة often suggests a larger entrance, such as:

• a city gate
• a main gate
• an entrance gate
• a portal/gateway in a more formal or modern sense

So compared with باب, بوابة can sound bigger, more formal, or more like a main entrance.

Because it agrees with البوابة, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Arabic, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

Since البوابة is feminine singular, the adjective is also feminine singular:

• masculine: مغلق
• feminine: مغلقة

So:

• الباب مغلق = The door/gate is closed
• البوابة مغلقة = The gate is closed

A very common sign of feminine nouns in Arabic is the ending ـة (taa marbuuTa).

Since بوابة ends in ـة, learners usually expect it to be feminine, and that is correct here.

Because it is feminine, any adjective referring to it must also be feminine:

• بوابة مغلقة
• not بوابة مغلق

This is one of the most important points in Arabic sentence structure.

In البوابة مغلقة, the pattern is:

• البوابة = the subject, the gate
• مغلقة = the predicate, closed

In this kind of sentence, the predicate is often indefinite in form, even though in English we translate it naturally as is closed.

So:

• البوابة مغلقة = The gate is closed

But if you say:

• البوابة المغلقة

that is no longer a full sentence. It becomes a noun phrase meaning:

• the closed gate

So the difference is:

• البوابة مغلقة = The gate is closed
• البوابة المغلقة = the closed gate

It is both, in a practical learning sense.

مغلقة is the feminine singular passive participle of the verb أغلق (to close).

Base pattern:

• masculine: مغلق
• feminine: مغلقة

As a passive participle, it literally has the sense of closed or having been closed. In actual usage, it often works like an ordinary adjective.

So in this sentence, you can think of it simply as:

• closed

In fully vowelled formal Arabic, it would usually be:

• البوابةُ مغلقةٌ

Here:

• البوابةُ has -u because it is the subject
• مغلقةٌ has -un because it is the predicate and indefinite in form

However, in normal reading and speech, especially in pause, these endings are often not pronounced. So you will commonly hear:

• al-bawwābah mughlaqah

without stressing the final case vowels.

It is pronounced roughly:

• al-bawwābah

The ل in الـ stays pronounced here because ب is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

So you say:

• الْبَوّابة
• not ab-bawwābah

This is different from words beginning with sun letters, where the l sound assimilates, such as:

• الشمس pronounced ash-shams

But here:

• البوابة = al-bawwābah

This is the normal order for a simple nominal sentence in Arabic:

• known thing / topic first
• description or information second

So:

• البوابة = what we are talking about
• مغلقة = what we are saying about it

This is very natural in Arabic.

Other word orders can happen for emphasis or style, but البوابة مغلقة is the basic, neutral form.

Usually, البوابة مغلقة is best understood as a state:

• The gate is closed

It describes the condition of the gate, not necessarily the action that closed it.

If you want to focus on the event or action, Arabic would often use a verb, for example:

• أُغلِقَت البوابة = The gate was closed
• تم إغلاق البوابة = The gate was closed / the gate has been closed

So مغلقة mainly describes the resulting state.

Its most direct meaning is closed or shut.

Depending on context, English might sometimes translate it loosely as closed off, but it does not specifically mean locked.

If you want to make locked clearer, Arabic may use other words, such as:

• مقفلة
• or a fuller expression involving locked with a key, depending on context

So for learners, the safest meaning of مغلقة is:

• closed

You would make both the noun and the adjective plural.

A common way is:

• البوابات مغلقة

That means:

• The gates are closed

Notice:

• البوابات = plural of بوابة
• مغلقة can stay in this feminine plural context in common modern usage when referring to non-human plurals

This is an important Arabic pattern: non-human plurals are often treated grammatically like feminine singular.

So even though البوابات is plural, مغلقة is still the normal form here.