Breakdown of La pastelería está a punto de abrir.
abrir
to open
estar a punto de
to be about to
la pastelería
the cake shop
Questions & Answers about La pastelería está a punto de abrir.
What does a punto de mean here, and how do I use it?
The phrase estar a punto de followed by an infinitive (like abrir) means to be about to do something. It is a very common expression used to talk about things happening in the immediate future.
Why does the sentence use está instead of es?
Because it is part of the fixed phrase estar a punto de. Even if you think of an opening time as a scheduled event, this specific expression always uses estar to describe a temporary state right at this exact moment.
Since the shop isn't opening a door or a box, shouldn't it be the reflexive abrirse?
You do not need the reflexive here. When talking about businesses starting or ending their daily operations, Spanish usually just uses the normal, non-reflexive verbs abrir (to open) and cerrar (to close).
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