How do you say "close" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "close" is 閉める (shimeru). It is a verb.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

閉める is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as shimeru, it sounds roughly like "shee-meh-roo" to an English ear.

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Questions about 閉める

How do you pronounce 閉める?

閉める is romanised as shimeru. Say it roughly like "shee-meh-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 閉める formal or casual?

閉める is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 閉める written in Japanese?

閉める is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.