Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej.

The store is open until ten.

Breakdown of Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej.

• być: to be
• sklep: the store
• do dziesiątej: until ten
• otwarty: open

Questions & Answers about Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej.

Why is there no word for the or a in this sentence?

Polish has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context. So Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej can mean both “A store is open…” or “The store is open…” depending on context.

Why do we need jest? Can't we just say Sklep otwarty do dziesiątej?

Jest is the present tense of “być” (to be) and is required in a full sentence to link the subject (sklep) with its state (otwarty). In headlines or short notices you can drop it—Sklep otwarty do dziesiątej—but in normal speech or writing it’s typical to include jest.

What part of speech is otwarty, and why this form?

Otwarty is the past passive participle of otworzyć (to open) functioning as an adjective. It agrees in gender, number and case with sklep (masculine singular nominative), hence the -y ending.

Could we use czynny instead of otwarty?

Yes. Czynny also means “open/operating” for business hours. You might see Sklep czynny do 22:00. Czynny is a bit more formal and often used in timetables or official notices.

Why is the time word dziesiątej and not dziesiąta or dziesięć?

After the preposition do (“until”) Polish uses the genitive case. The clock time “tenth (hour)” is the feminine ordinal dziesiąta (agreeing with the implied godzina), so in genitive it becomes dziesiątej.

Why do we use an ordinal number here instead of a cardinal?

When referring to clock hours, Polish uses ordinals (the “tenth hour” = dziesiąta godzina) rather than cardinals. Saying do dziesięciu would literally mean “up to ten [things],” not “until ten o’clock.”

Can I emphasize that it’s open as late as ten by using another preposition?

Yes. You can say aż do dziesiątej (“as late as ten”). The word aż adds emphasis, but do dziesiątej is enough in everyday speech.

How would I say “The store is open from 8 to 10”?

Use od for “from” plus genitive: Sklep jest otwarty od ósmej do dziesiątej. Here ósmej is the genitive of ósma (“eighth [hour]”).

How can I specify whether it’s 10 AM or 10 PM?

Add an adverb like rano (“in the morning”) or wieczorem (“in the evening”):
• Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej rano
• Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej wieczorem

Is it okay to move do dziesiątej to the front of the sentence?

Yes. Do dziesiątej sklep jest otwarty is grammatically correct and focuses on the time, but the neutral word order is Sklep jest otwarty do dziesiątej.