זה מוזר שהחנות נפתחת מאוחר ביום רגיל, אבל בשבת היא נפתחת מוקדם.

נפתחת is the present tense, feminine singular, Nifal form of the verb פתח.

In this sentence, החנות נפתחת means the store opens / is opened. In everyday Hebrew, נפתח / נפתחת is very commonly used for things like doors, stores, offices, and events opening, often where English would simply say opens.

So:

• החנות פותחת would sound like the store opens something
• החנות נפתחת means the store opens / becomes open

For shops and businesses, נפתח / נפתחת is the normal choice.

Because חנות is a feminine singular noun.

In Hebrew present tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender and number. Since החנות is feminine singular, the verb is also feminine singular:

• masculine singular: נפתח
• feminine singular: נפתחת
• masculine plural: נפתחים
• feminine plural: נפתחות

So החנות נפתחת is grammatically matched.

ש is a shortened form of אשר and usually means that.

So זה מוזר שהחנות נפתחת... means It’s strange that the store opens...

This ש introduces a clause, just like English that:

• אני יודע שהוא כאן = I know that he is here
• חבל שהיא לא באה = It’s a shame that she isn’t coming

In everyday Hebrew, the short ש־ is extremely common.

Yes, literally זה מוזר is this is strange, but very often it functions like English it’s strange.

Hebrew often uses זה in impersonal statements:

• זה טוב = It’s good
• זה קשה = It’s hard
• זה מוזר = It’s strange

So even though the literal structure looks like this is strange, the natural meaning is often it is strange.

In Hebrew, adjectives are often used adverbially without changing form.

So:

• מאוחר = late
• מוקדם = early

They can describe when something happens, much like adverbs in English:

• הוא הגיע מוקדם = He arrived early
• החנות נפתחת מאוחר = The store opens late

Hebrew does not need a separate -ly type ending here.

ביום רגיל means on a regular day / on an ordinary day.

It is made of:

• ב־ = in / on
• יום = day
• רגיל = regular, ordinary

So literally it is something like on an ordinary day.

This phrase gives the time context: the store opens late on a normal day, but early on שבת.

Because in Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• יום רגיל = a regular day
• חנות גדולה = a big store
• ספר מעניין = an interesting book

This is one of the most basic word-order differences from English. The adjective also agrees with the noun in gender, number, and definiteness.

Because the phrase is meant generically, not as a specific known day.

• ביום רגיל = on a regular day / on an ordinary day
• ביום הרגיל would mean something more like on the regular/usual day or on that normal day, referring to a specific one

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about the general pattern, so the indefinite form ביום רגיל is the natural choice.

בשבת means on שבת. Depending on context, that can be understood as:

• on Shabbat
• on Saturday

In Israeli Hebrew, שבת can refer to both the Jewish Sabbath and Saturday as a day of the week, because they overlap.

The form is:

• ב־ = on / in
• שבת = Shabbat / Saturday

So בשבת is simply on שבת.

Yes, it could be omitted.

Hebrew often allows subject pronouns to be left out when the verb already makes the subject clear. So both of these are possible:

• אבל בשבת היא נפתחת מוקדם
• אבל בשבת נפתחת מוקדם

Including היא gives a bit more clarity or contrast. It can feel like:

• but on שבת, it opens early
• or even but on שבת, the store opens early

Since the sentence is contrasting two situations, the pronoun helps make the second half feel more explicit.

Hebrew usually prefers to repeat the verb here for a full, clear sentence.

So the structure is:

• החנות נפתחת מאוחר ביום רגיל
• אבל בשבת היא נפתחת מוקדם

In English, we might be tempted to say something shorter like but on שבת, early, or but on שבת, it does early, but Hebrew normally repeats the verb.

This makes the contrast very clear: late in one case, early in the other.

There is some flexibility, but the given order is the most neutral and natural.

The basic pattern here is:

• subject
• verb
• adverb/time expression

So:

• החנות נפתחת מאוחר ביום רגיל

You might hear other orders for emphasis, but they can sound more marked. For a learner, the safest version is the one in the sentence.

Likewise:

• אבל בשבת היא נפתחת מוקדם

puts the contrastive time phrase בשבת near the front, which is very natural after אבל.

Yes. The Nifal form often covers both ideas, and context tells you which one is intended.

For example:

• הדלת נפתחת can mean the door opens or the door is opened
• החנות נפתחת בשמונה is naturally understood as the store opens at eight

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly the ordinary schedule meaning: the store opens.

Hebrew often attaches short prefixes directly to the following word.

Here you have:

• ש + החנות = שהחנות
• ב + יום = ביום
• ב + שבת = בשבת

These are not separate words in writing. This is very normal in Hebrew.

So when reading, it helps to mentally split them:

• ש־ = that
• ב־ = in/on

Recognizing these prefixes quickly is an important reading skill for Hebrew learners.