閉まる
しまる
hepburn shimaru
to close (intransitive)
Part of speech · godan-verb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 風でドアが閉まりました。The door closed in the wind.
- 店は8時に閉まります。The shop closes at 8.
Collocations
閉まる (shimaru, to close, intransitive)閉める (shimeru, to close, transitive)開く (aku, to open)閉店 (heiten, shop closing)閉鎖 (heisa, closure formal)
Mnemonic
Shimaru (閉まる) is a godan intransitive — "to close (by itself)," the exact partner of aku. Transitive partner shimeru (閉める, ichidan). Readings of 閉: shimaru / shimeru (kun-reading, everyday) vs hei- (on-reading, Sino-Japanese formal) — heiten (shop closing), heikai (meeting close), heisa (closure / lockout). Heiten jikan (closing time) is a common shop sign in Japan. The formal vs colloquial split combined with on / kun reading split is at the heart of precise Japanese vocabulary. Intransitive / transitive family ~aru / ~eru: hajimaru / hajimeru, owaru, tomaru / tomeru, kawaru / kaeru, aku / akeru, shimaru / shimeru — a core intermediate-level pair set.
Quick check
Japanese sign for "shop closing time"?