La farmacia está cerrada hoy.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with nouns when talking about a specific place or thing that is understood from context. La farmacia means the pharmacy.

You can sometimes hear nouns without an article in other contexts, but in this sentence la farmacia sounds natural because it refers to a particular pharmacy.

Because farmacia is a feminine singular noun in Spanish.

• el = masculine singular
• la = feminine singular

So:

• la farmacia
• la tienda
• la escuela

Many nouns ending in -a are feminine, and farmacia follows that pattern.

Spanish often uses estar with adjectives to describe a state or condition, especially one that can change.

So está cerrada means the pharmacy is closed right now / today.

By contrast, ser is usually used for more permanent characteristics or definitions.

Compare:

• La farmacia está cerrada hoy. = The pharmacy is closed today.
• La farmacia es grande. = The pharmacy is big.

A simple way to remember it here: being closed is a temporary condition, so Spanish uses estar.

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and distinguishes it from another word.

• está = he/she/it is or you are (formal), from estar
• esta = this (feminine), as in esta farmacia = this pharmacy

So the accent is important because it changes the word’s function.

Because the adjective must agree with farmacia, which is feminine singular.

• masculine singular: cerrado
• feminine singular: cerrada
• masculine plural: cerrados
• feminine plural: cerradas

Since farmacia is feminine singular, the correct form is cerrada.

It is historically the past participle of cerrar (to close), but in this sentence it functions like an adjective after estar.

So learners usually understand está cerrada as is closed.

This is very common in Spanish:

• La puerta está abierta. = The door is open.
• La tienda está cerrada. = The shop is closed.

Hoy means today, and putting it at the end is very natural in Spanish.

• La farmacia está cerrada hoy.
• Hoy la farmacia está cerrada.

Both are possible, but the first one is a very neutral, everyday word order.

Spanish is often flexible with adverbs like hoy, but the end position sounds especially natural here.

Yes. That is also correct.

Putting hoy first gives it a little more emphasis, as if you are highlighting today in particular.

• La farmacia está cerrada hoy. = neutral
• Hoy la farmacia está cerrada. = emphasizes today

There is a word for is: está.

The structure is:

• La farmacia = the pharmacy
• está = is
• cerrada = closed
• hoy = today

So Spanish expresses is closed as está cerrada.

A simple pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• la far-MA-thya es-TA ce-RRA-da oy in much of Spain

Key points for Spain Spanish:

• ci in farmacia often sounds like thya in central/northern Spain
• rr in cerrada is a rolled or trilled r
• hoy sounds roughly like oy

Stress:

• farMAcia
• esTÁ
• ceRRAda

Usually yes in this kind of sentence, but culturally it may overlap with what some English speakers call a chemist’s or drugstore depending on region.

In Spain, farmacia is the normal word for a pharmacy where you get medicines. So La farmacia está cerrada hoy is the natural way to say The pharmacy is closed today.

Yes. If everyone already knows you are talking about today, Spanish can simply say:

• La farmacia está cerrada.

Adding hoy makes the time reference explicit.

Not normally. La farmacia está cerrada hoy most naturally means The pharmacy is closed today.

If you wanted to say something more like has been closed today, Spanish would usually use a different structure, depending on the exact meaning.

So for learners, the safest reading is the simple present-state meaning: The pharmacy is closed today.