Learn Hardcore Russian: Магазин закрывается в девять вечера.

The -ся suffix is the reflexive marker, but here it doesn’t mean “the shop closes itself” in a literal sense. In Russian many verbs with -ся take on a passive or middle‐voice meaning. закрывается basically means “the shop is closed” or “the shop closes” (i.e. it happens to the shop). In everyday speech, this is the standard way to say when shops or offices close.

Why is закрывается in the present tense if it refers to a future event?

Russian often uses the present‐tense form of imperfective verbs to talk about scheduled or habitual events, even if they happen later. Just like in English you say “The store closes at nine,” not “will close,” in Russian a timetable uses закрывается (present) to express a future fixed schedule.

What case is вечера in в девять вечера, and why is it used?

In в девять вечера, вечера is the genitive singular of вечер. Time expressions with в follow the pattern:
• в + numeral in the accusative (here девять)
• + period‐of‐day in the genitive (here вечера)
So you literally have “at nine of the evening,” which in English is “at nine in the evening.”

Why do we use the preposition в before the time expression, and not another preposition?

When specifying the exact time something happens, Russian uses в plus the time phrase in the accusative (for the hour) and genitive (for the period-of-day). Other prepositions (like на, с, до) mark duration, starting points, deadlines, etc., but в is the one for “at” a precise hour.

Can we omit вечера and just say в девять? Would that be correct?

Yes—if context makes clear whether it’s morning or evening. в девять by itself means “at nine,” but without вечера (or утра for morning) a listener might not know am vs. pm.

Can I write в 9 вечера instead of в девять вечера?

In informal writing or digital schedules you can use digits: в 9 вечера or even в 21:00. In formal texts it’s often better to spell out the number or use the 24-hour format 21:00.

Could we also say в девять часов вечера, and is there any difference?

Yes. часов is the genitive plural of час (“hour”), so в девять часов вечера is fully explicit: “at nine hours of the evening.” в девять вечера is a bit shorter/colloquial. Both are perfectly correct.

How do you ask “What time does the store close?” in Russian?

Use Во сколько магазин закрывается?
– Во сколько = “at what time”
– word order is flexible: you can also say Во сколько закрывается магазин?

What’s the difference between закрывается and закроется?

• закрывается is present-imperfective: used for habitual or scheduled actions (“it closes at nine”).
• закроется is future-perfective: it emphasizes that the action will be completed at that moment (“the store will close at nine”). In timetables you almost always see the imperfective закрывается.