Learn Hardcore Russian: Кран над раковиной закрыт.

In Russian, кран means “faucet,” “tap,” or “valve” (the device that controls water flow). The English word “crane” (the bird or the lifting machine) is a false friend. Context (near a sink) tells you it’s the sink faucet.

Why is there no verb to be or есть in the sentence?

In present-tense Russian, the copula (the verb быть “to be”) is usually omitted. Instead of saying кран над раковиной есть закрыт, you just say кран над раковиной закрыт. The state is conveyed by the short-form participle/adjective закрыт.

What part of speech is закрыт?

Закрыт is a short-form passive participle (often taught as a short adjective) derived from the perfective verb закрыть (“to close”). It describes the resulting state: “(it) is closed.”

Why is закрыт in the masculine singular form?

Because кран is masculine singular. Short-form participles and adjectives agree with their subject in gender and number. If the subject were feminine (e.g. дверь), you’d say дверь закрыта.

How do short-form participles/adjectives change for other genders and number?

They have specific endings:
• Masculine singular: закрыт
• Feminine singular: закрыта
• Neuter singular: закрыто
• Plural (all genders): закрыты

Why is the preposition над used, and why is раковина in the instrumental case?

Над means “above” or “over” and always takes the instrumental case in Russian. So раковина becomes раковиной. Other prepositions like на (“on”) or в (“in”) govern different cases and express different relationships.

Why not say закрытый кран над раковиной instead?

You could: закрытый кран над раковиной (“the closed faucet above the sink”), using the full adjective закрытый. But the short form закрыт emphasizes the current state (“[the faucet] is closed”) in a concise, “resultative” way.

What’s the difference between закрывать/закрываться and закрыть/закрыться, and which form is used here?

• Закрывать (imperfective) = “to be closing” or “to close (habitually).”
• Закрыть (perfective) = “to close (once, to completion).”
The short participle закрыт comes from the perfective закрыть, indicating the action is complete and we’re talking about the resulting state.

Can we rephrase this with an explicit passive or active voice?

Yes. Passive past: Кран был закрыт (“The faucet was closed”). Active: Кто-то закрыл кран (“Someone closed the faucet”). But кран закрыт is a very common, succinct way to state the present result.

Why are there no articles like the or a before кран?

Russian has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context, word order, or demonstratives (e.g., этот кран = “this faucet”) rather than separate words like a or the.