Commonly Confused Words: 閉しまる and 閉しめる

I’d say when you study Japanese, there are a lot of confused words. Let me introduce one of the commonly confused words which are 閉しまる and 閉しめる that has been quite often used in daily conversation and you would be using 閉しまる and 閉しめる from today!

閉しまる

Be closed

閉しまる is an intransitive verb, unlike 閉しめる. Thus, The subjects are not people which are things such as ドア(doors), 学校がっこう(schools), 窓まど (windows), ふた(lids), 店みせ(stores), 図書館としょかん (the libraries) and so on. The basic way to use it is “___(things)が閉しまる” (___ is closed.).

Example

ドアが閉しまったね。 (The door was closed.) (门关上了。) (문이 닫혔네.) (Cửa đóng rồi nhỉ.)

学校がっこうが台風たいふうで閉しまるわ。 (The schools are closed due to the typhoon.) (学校因为台风关闭。) (태풍으로 학교가 문을 닫았어.) (Vì có bão nên trường học sẽ đóng cửa.)

しっかりとふたが閉しまっていることを確認かくにんしてね。 (Make sure the lid is closed tightly.) (记得确认盖子紧闭哦。) (제대로 뚜껑이 닫혔는지 확인해줘.) (Kiểm tra xem cái nắp đã được đóng chặt chưa đi đấy.)

お店みせは何時なんじに閉しまりますか？ (What time does the store close?) (这家商店几点关门？) (가게는 몇 시에 닫나요?) (Cửa hàng đóng cửa vào lúc mấy giờ ạ?)

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閉しめる

Close

閉しめる is a transitive verb, unlike 閉しまる. Thus, the subjects should be people, so the way to use it is “___(people)が___(things)を閉しめる’___(people) close ___(things)'”. For instance, ドア(doors), 窓まど(windows), ふた(lids), 店みせ(stores), 本ほん (books) etc. 閉しめる and 閉とじる are quite different. 閉とじる means “to make it back to the original” such as eyes, mouth, legs, umbrellas, books and so on. 閉しめる means “to fill the gaps” such as doors, windows, lids, shutters and etc. Furthermore, the difference between 閉とじる and 閉しめる is that basically 閉とじる is used for things which are pretty small and 閉しめる is not used for things which are small.

Example

たつや
ドアを閉しめたわ。 (I closed the door.) (我把门关上了。) (문을 닫았어.) (Tôi đóng cửa rồi.)

ゆか
ドアはゆっくり閉しめてね。 (Please close the door softly.) (慢慢关上门。) (문은 살짝 닫아줘.) (Đóng cửa từ từ thôi nhé.)

たつや
目めを閉とじて。 (Close your eyes.) (闭上你的眼睛。) (눈 감아.) (Nhắm mắt lại đi.)

ゆか
本ほんを静しずかに閉とじたよ。 (I quietly close the book.) (我悄悄地合上了这本书。) (책을 조용히 덮었어.) (Tớ đã nhẹ nhàng đóng quyển sách lại đấy.)