At what time is the school closed?

We are going to introduce the opposite adjective of OPEN→CLOSED that will be useful as well, for our communication, eventually. Of course, like English, we do have the verb -TO CLOSE- to express when a place closes, but it is not time yet to see verbs, so we will stick with -SER- and -ESTAR- and the different uses.

First, think that if the action of being -closed- is temporary or permanent ? Well, a place will be open and also closed…this idea will take us to the use of the temporary verb –ESTAR– when it is mixed up with the adjective –CLOSED-.

→ Remember that –CERRADO– is an adjective, so it will have the same gender (masculine/feminine) and the number (singular/plural) as the person or thing that is referring to. Let’s see it in a clear example:

¿A QUÉ HORA ESTÁ CERRADA?

 AT WHAT TIME IS CLOSED ?

→8:00  PM

ESTÁ CERRADA A LAS OCHO DE LA TARDE

 IS CLOSED AT THE EIGHT PM

◊ Note:

1. ESTÁ, is the verb temporary -ESTAR- and it is used because we are referring to a temporary action. The school can be opened and can be closed as we had explained and it is conjugated in 3rd person singular -LA ESCUELA ESTÁ- (The school is).

2. CERRADA, is a feminine/singular adjective as refers to – ESCUELA- and this is a feminine/singular noun.

3. A, as we have learned, is the preposition –AT– that expresses an occurring point in time; In this case, the time when the school closes its doors.

→ Let’s see another example:

¿DESDE QUÉ HORA ESTÁ CERRADO EL CINE?

SINCE WHAT TIME IS CLOSED THE CINEMA?

→10:00  PM

ESTÁ CERRADO DESDE LAS DIEZ DE LA NOCHE

IS CLOSED SINCE THE TEN PM

◊ Note:

1. ESTÁ, is the verb temporary -ESTAR- and it is used because we are referring to a temporary action. The cinema can be opened and can be closed as we had explained and it is conjugated in 3rd person singular -EL CINE ESTÁ- (The cinema is).

2. CERRADO, is a masculine/singular adjective as refers to – CINE- and this is a masculine/singular noun.

3. DESDE, as we have learned, is the preposition –SINCE– that expresses a starting point in time; In this case, the starting point in time of the cinema being closed.