To start the new week, we have a new French word for you to study. In this edition of our blog, we’ve chosen the verb fermer.
We’ll begin by listening to the pronunciation in the audio clip below:
Now we can move on to its English translation, of which there are quite a lot of similar options. The verb infinitive fermer means ‘to shut’, ‘to close (down)’, ‘to turn off’ or ‘to lock (up)’, among other things. But these main translations should help you get the gist. It might be useful to note that fermer has the same meaning and translations whether you use the verb transitively or intransitively.
As far as French verbs go, the grammar for fermer is quite simple. It follows the regular -er verb pattern in all tenses. If you need a bit more information, check out our Easy Learning French Grammar pages on regular conjugation of -er verbs in the present indicative, the present subjunctive and the imperfect tense.
Ready for some examples of fermer in action? Let’s see how you might encounter this verb in everyday use:
fermer une porte to shut/close a door
fermer une fenêtre to shut/close a window
fermer à clef to lock (a door, window and so on)
fermer les yeux to close one’s eyes
fermer le robinet to turn off the tap
Nous avons fermé la télévision avant de nous coucher. We turned the TV off before going to bed.
Leur entreprise fermera cette année, j’en suis sûr. Their business will shut down this year, I’m sure of it.
Vous fermez à quelle heure ? What time do you close at? (you can imagine asking this to someone in a shop, or if you’re too late you might see a sign on the door saying fermé – most likely in all capital letters)
Autrefois, les magasins fermaient à 21h. In the past, the shops used to close at 9pm.
Just for some bonus content, you might come across another French noun which feels like it should be related to the verb fermer – which is ferme. But be careful, this feminine noun doesn’t have any similar translation. If you hear someone talking about la/une ferme, they’re talking about a ‘farm’. And if you notice this word sitting after a noun, it’s most likely the adjective ferme, meaning ‘firm’ or ‘hard’ – often in a more figurative sense.
Mes frères travaillent dans une ferme biologique. My brothers work on an organic farm.
Je n’aime pas quand tu me parles d’un ton ferme. I don’t like when to speak to me in a firm tone.
And that brings this week’s blog to a close! We hope that you enjoyed learning about fermer and feel confident enough to put it to use.
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.
