Learn Hardcore Russian: Директор запретил вход после десяти вечера. - The director forbade entry after ten in the evening.

It’s the direct object in the accusative. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative equals the nominative, so вход doesn’t change form. Входа is genitive; you use it in patterns like нет входа (there is no entrance) or the noun phrase запрет входа (prohibition of entry), but not after the verb запретить.

Correct: Директор запретил вход.
Correct (noun phrase): Запрет входа после десяти.
Incorrect here: Директор запретил входа.

Why are both words in после десяти вечера in the genitive?

Because после always takes the genitive. So:

десяти is the genitive of the numeral десять,
вечера is the genitive of вечер. You can optionally include часов: после десяти часов вечера (more formal). In everyday speech, после десяти вечера or simply после десяти (if AM/PM is clear) is normal.

Could I say после десяти ночи instead?

Usually no. Ten p.m. is still considered вечер (evening) in Russian, so people say после десяти вечера. If you really mean “after midnight,” say после полуночи or use a specific night time, e.g., после двух ночи.

Why is it perfective запретил, not запрещает or запрещал?

запретил (perfective past) = he performed a one-time act of imposing a ban (a decision).
запрещает (imperfective present) = he prohibits as an ongoing policy (habitually/enforces).
запрещал (imperfective past) = he used to prohibit; was in the process of prohibiting. Here the focus is the decision that was made, so perfective past fits best.

Can I rephrase it like a sign: Вход после десяти вечера запрещён?

Yes. That’s the standard “rule-stating” passive: Вход … запрещён (short passive participle). Spelling note: запрещён (with ё) or запрещен (without the diacritic) are both acceptable. The active Директор запретил… names the agent and emphasizes the act of forbidding.

Why use the noun вход instead of an infinitive like входить or войти?

Запретить can govern either a noun (what is banned) or an infinitive (what action is banned).

запретил вход = banned entry as a category/policy (concise, official-ish).
запретил входить = banned the action of entering in general (very common).
запретил войти = forbade someone to enter on a specific occasion (one time).

Russian has no articles—so how do we know if it’s “the” entrance or “any” entrance?

Context. вход here means entry in general (anyone’s entering). If you need to specify, you add details: вход в здание, вход в клуб, etc. Russian relies on context and modifiers instead of articles.

What exactly does директор mean here—“director” like in film, or “manager/boss”?

Директор is the head of an organization (company, store, school, etc.): “director,” “principal,” or “manager” depending on context. A film director is режиссёр, not директор.

If the director is a woman, should it be запретила?

Yes. Past-tense verbs agree with the natural gender: Директор запретила вход… is standard if the director is female. Alternatives like директриса (dated) or директорка (colloquial, regional) exist, but most often you’ll just see директор with feminine agreement.

How flexible is the word order, and what changes with different orders?

Russian allows reordering for emphasis:

Neutral: Директор запретил вход после десяти вечера.
Emphasize the time: После десяти вечера директор запретил вход.
Emphasize who did it: Вход после десяти вечера запретил директор. All are grammatical; the choice highlights different parts of the message.

Does вход mean the doorway or the act of entering here?

Here it means the act/permission of entering. The same word can also mean the physical entrance (doorway). Context tells you which:

Act/permission: Вход после десяти запрещён.
Doorway: Вход в здание слева.

How do I say it with 24‑hour time?

Numeric: после 22:00.
In words (formal): после двадцати двух часов (you can omit часов in speech: после двадцати двух if it’s clear).

Why вечера and not вечером after после?

Because после requires the genitive: вечера is genitive of вечер. Вечером is instrumental meaning “in the evening” and can’t be used after после. Compare:

в десять вечера = at 10 p.m.
после десяти вечера = after 10 p.m.

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

вход: the в is devoiced before х, so it sounds like “fkhod.”
запретил: stress the last syllable (“zapreTIL”).
десяти: stress the last syllable (“desyaTI”).
директор: stress the second syllable (“diREktor”).

How do I include the people who are being forbidden?

Use dative for the person(s) affected and accusative for what is forbidden:

Директор запретил студентам вход после десяти.
Директор запретил посетителям входить после десяти.

What’s the difference between вход запрещён and вход закрыт?

вход запрещён = entry is forbidden by rule/policy.
вход закрыт = the entrance is closed physically (locked/blocked). You’ll see both on signs, depending on whether it’s a rule or a physical closure.