Why do we write "The shop is open" and not "The shop is opened"?
The passive voice is formed this way: verb + ed.
On the other hand, we write "The shop is closed".
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Mari-Lou A
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elena
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"The shop is opened by Tom" is the passive version of "Tom opens the shop". – GEdgar Mar 25 '15 at 18:53
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Also related: “All opened files” or “all open files”? – choster Mar 25 '15 at 23:28
2 Answers
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Let's consider both examples:
The shop is closed.
The shop is open.
In this case, "open" and "closed" are adjectives. The word "closed" is an example of a participial adjective. It is similar to others such as "surprised", "intrigued", and "tired". These adjectives usually come from words with Latin roots. Other adjectives, such as "open" and "bright", have Germanic roots and do not take English forms requiring "ed" at the end.
Hope this helps!
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'Closed' is on occasion a past participle: The shop is closed at 10 pm on weekdays. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 25 '15 at 20:46
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"Open" and "Closed" are both adjectives describing the shop.
It's just one of those situations where a verb matches the adjectives one way but not for its opposite. You wouldn't say "the shop is close," since the adjective close has a completely different definition.
