Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "閉める" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 閉める in Japanese?

閉める is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕi.me.ɾɯ/. It means “to close something (transitive).” shi-me-ru, three even beats — a thin hiss, a flat "meh," and a single tap.

shi-me-ru, three even beats — a thin hiss, a flat "meh," and a single tap.

閉める /ɕi.me.ɾɯ/

shimeru

High on shi, then down — and no slot longer than another. Like 開ける, this transitive verb has an intransitive partner — 閉まる (shimaru) — with the same number of beats but a different middle vowel, so precision in the vowels matters more than usual for being understood.

Listen: 閉める

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Sound it out

shi The tongue blade approaches the hard palate, producing a hiss lighter and higher than English "she." The i stays short and, because a voiced m follows, fully voiced.

me Close the lips, then release into a short front e held in one position. No upward glide.

ru One quick flick of the tongue tip and away, then the unrounded u. The tap is brief enough that it barely registers as a separate consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

ドアを閉めてください。

Doa o shimete kudasai.

Please close the door.

Listen: ドアを閉めてください。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

ドアを閉めてください uses the te-form and again runs straight into ください without a break. ドア at the head is two morae (do-a) with two separate vowels — English "door" is one syllable, so the loanword is immediately longer in Japanese, and the a must be audible as its own beat.

Where English speakers slip

"shee-MAY-roo" is the standard mispronunciation: a long first vowel, a diphthongised stressed middle, and an English r. Shorten the i, freeze the e, tap once for the r, and keep the lips flat at the end. The hiss should also be gentler than English sh — think of blowing across the top of a bottle rather than a full "shh."