Learn Hardcore Russian: Магазин открывается в девять утра.

Магазин открывается в девять утра.
Literally: The shop opens (itself) at nine in the morning.
→ Regular schedule, focus on the process / event that normally happens.

Compare:

Магазин открывает охранник в девять утра.
The guard opens the shop at nine in the morning.
Here открывает needs an explicit subject (охранник).
Магазин открыт.
The shop is open.
This is a state, not the opening event.

So открывается is natural for “the shop opens (according to its schedule)” without naming who opens it.

Why is the present tense (открывается) used if we are talking about the future (nine in the morning)?

Russian often uses the present tense for fixed schedules and regular events, even if they happen in the future relative to now:

Поезд отправляется в семь. – The train leaves at seven.
Урок начинается в восемь. – The lesson starts at eight.

Similarly:

Магазин открывается в девять утра.

This usually means:

a regular timetable (every day at nine), or
a planned schedule (according to posted hours).

If you want to stress a single future event, you’d typically use the perfective:

Магазин откроется в девять утра. – The shop will open at nine in the morning (this time).

What case is девять in, and why do we say в девять?

After в meaning “at (a point in time)”, Russian uses the accusative case:

в три (часа) – at three (o’clock)
в девять – at nine

The word девять (nine) has the same form in nominative and accusative, so it looks unchanged, but grammatically it’s accusative here.

Why is it утра, not утро, in в девять утра?

Утро is the basic form (nominative singular: morning).
In time expressions like this, Russian uses the genitive singular: утра.

Patterns:

в шесть утра – at six in the morning
в девять утра – at nine in the morning
в десять вечера – at ten in the evening
в два часа ночи – at two at night

So утра is genitive, functioning as part of a standard time expression: “at nine (of the) morning” → at nine in the morning.

Can I say Магазин открывается в девять часов утра? Is that more correct?

Yes, Магазин открывается в девять часов утра is grammatically correct.

Nuance:

в девять утра – very common, natural, slightly shorter and more conversational.
в девять часов утра – a bit more formal, explicit (literally “at nine hours of the morning”).

In everyday speech, people usually drop часов and simply say в девять утра.

Could I say Магазин открывается девять утра without в?

No, that’s ungrammatical.

To express “at [time]” you must use в + accusative:

в девять утра – at nine in the morning
в семь вечера – at seven in the evening

Without в, девять утра would just look like a bare noun phrase (“nine of morning”), not a time expression meaning “at nine”.

Can I change the word order to В девять утра магазин открывается?

Yes. Both are correct:

Магазин открывается в девять утра.
В девять утра магазин открывается.

The difference is only in emphasis:

First version: neutral, slight focus on “the shop”.
Second version: highlights the time “at nine in the morning” (e.g. in contrast to some other time).

Russian word order is fairly flexible, but the preposition must stay with its noun, so you don’t separate в from девять.

What’s the difference between Магазин открывается в девять and Магазин откроется в девять?

They both can translate as “The shop will open at nine”, but:

открывается (imperfective, present):
- usually describes a regular schedule (every day at nine), or
- a fixed timetable / general rule.
откроется (perfective, future):
- focuses on a specific future event,
- often one-time or newly established:
  Магазин откроется в девять – The shop will open at nine (this particular time / on that day).

So:

Talking about opening hours generally → открывается.
Talking about one future opening event → откроется.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” before магазин?

Russian has no articles (no “a/an” or “the”). The noun магазин by itself can mean:

a shop, the shop, or even just shop in general,

depending entirely on context.

In a typical situation (e.g. on a sign, or talking about a known local shop):

Магазин открывается в девять утра.
would usually be understood as “The shop opens at nine in the morning.”

How do you pronounce this sentence, and where is the stress?

Phonetic hints with stressed syllables in bold (caps=stressed):

Магазин – ма-га-ЗИН
открывается – ат-кры-ВА-ет-ся
в – pronounced like English v
девять – ДЕ-вят’
утра – ут-РА

Altogether (showing main stresses):

магаЗИН открыВАется в ДЕвять утРА

What gender is магазин, and does it affect the verb открывается?

Магазин is masculine, inanimate.

In the present tense, Russian verbs do not change for gender, only for person and number. So:

Магазин открывается. – masculine, singular
Дверь открывается. – feminine, singular
Окно открывается. – neuter, singular

The form открывается stays the same; gender is visible mostly in past tense and short adjectives/participles, not in present verbs.

If I want to say “shops open at nine in the morning”, how would I change the sentence?

You make магазин plural and adjust the verb:

Магазины открываются в девять утра.
Shops open at nine in the morning.

Changes:

магазин → магазины (plural)
открывается → открываются (3rd person plural)

Is в девять утра the only way to say “at nine a.m.”, or are there other common options?

The most natural everyday options:

в девять утра – at nine in the morning (neutral, common)
в девять – at nine (time-of-day understood from context)

More formal or technical:

в девять ноль-ноль – at nine zero-zero (9:00)
в девять часов – at nine o’clock (more formal/literal)

All of these can work with Магазин открывается…, but в девять утра and в девять are the most typical in conversation.

Can I move утра in the phrase, like в утра девять?

No. Time expressions with hours follow fixed patterns:

в девять утра
в шесть вечера
в час дня
в два часа ночи

You do not say в утра девять or reorder those words.
Correct order here is always: в + [hour] + [part of day].