Магазин закрывается в девять вечера.

the store

Breakdown of Магазин закрывается в девять вечера.

• вечер: the evening
• в: at
• девять: nine

Questions & Answers about Магазин закрывается в девять вечера.

What does the -ся suffix in закрывается indicate?

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?