fermer

See also: fèrmer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French fermer (“to close”), Latin firmāre (“make firm, confirm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛʁ.me/

• audio

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Verb

fermer

1. (transitive) to shut
2. (transitive) to close
3. (reflexive) to close
4. to do up (of clothing)
5. to switch off, to turn off (of a device or an appliance)
6. to shut down, to discontinue, to axe (of a service)
7. (intransitive) to harden (of someone's face)
8. (transitive) to put someone off something, to turn someone off something

   Ce professeur l’a fermé au sujet des mathématiques.

   That teacher turned him off maths.

9. (transitive) to mark the border of

   Les Vosges ferment l’Alsace à l’ouest.

   The Vosges mountains mark the western border of the Alsace.

Conjugation

Conjugation of fermer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	fermer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	fermant /fɛʁ.mɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		fermé /fɛʁ.me/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	ferme /fɛʁm/	fermes /fɛʁm/	ferme /fɛʁm/	fermons /fɛʁ.mɔ̃/	fermez /fɛʁ.me/	ferment /fɛʁm/
	imperfect	fermais /fɛʁ.mɛ/	fermais /fɛʁ.mɛ/	fermait /fɛʁ.mɛ/	fermions /fɛʁ.mjɔ̃/	fermiez /fɛʁ.mje/	fermaient /fɛʁ.mɛ/
	past historic2	fermai /fɛʁ.me/	fermas /fɛʁ.ma/	ferma /fɛʁ.ma/	fermâmes /fɛʁ.mam/	fermâtes /fɛʁ.mat/	fermèrent /fɛʁ.mɛʁ/
	future	fermerai /fɛʁ.mə.ʁe/	fermeras /fɛʁ.mə.ʁa/	fermera /fɛʁ.mə.ʁa/	fermerons /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/	fermerez /fɛʁ.mə.ʁe/	fermeront /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	fermerais /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	fermerais /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	fermerait /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	fermerions /fɛʁ.mə.ʁjɔ̃/	fermeriez /fɛʁ.mə.ʁje/	fermeraient /fɛʁ.mə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	ferme /fɛʁm/	fermes /fɛʁm/	ferme /fɛʁm/	fermions /fɛʁ.mjɔ̃/	fermiez /fɛʁ.mje/	ferment /fɛʁm/
	imperfect2	fermasse /fɛʁ.mas/	fermasses /fɛʁ.mas/	fermât /fɛʁ.ma/	fermassions /fɛʁ.ma.sjɔ̃/	fermassiez /fɛʁ.ma.sje/	fermassent /fɛʁ.mas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	ferme /fɛʁm/	—	fermons /fɛʁ.mɔ̃/	fermez /fɛʁ.me/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Antonyms

• ouvrir

Derived terms

• ferme ta gueule
• fermer à clé
• fermer à clef
• fermer boutique
• fermer la marche
• fermer les yeux
• fermer sa gueule
• la ferme
• la fermer
• les yeux fermés
• ne pas fermer l’œil
• refermer

 

Related terms

• fermeture

Further reading

• “fermer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin firmāre (“to make firm, to confirm”), present active infinitive of firmō.

Verb

fermer

1. to close

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-rms, *-rmt are modified to rs, rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of fermer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		fermer			avoir fermé
gerund		en fermant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		fermant
past participle		fermé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	ferm	fermes	ferme	fermons	fermez	ferment
	imperfect	fermoie, fermeie, fermoe, fermeve	fermoies, fermeies, fermoes, fermeves	fermoit, fermeit, fermot, fermeve	fermiiens, fermiens	fermiiez, fermiez	fermoient, fermeient, fermoent, fermevent
	preterite	fermai	fermas	ferma	fermames	fermastes	fermerent
	future	fermerai	fermeras	fermera	fermerons	fermeroiz, fermereiz, fermerez	fermeront
	conditional	fermeroie, fermereie	fermeroies, fermereies	fermeroit, fermereit	fermeriiens, fermeriens	fermeriiez, fermeriez	fermeroient, fermereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	ferm	fers	fert	fermons	fermez	ferment
	imperfect	fermasse	fermasses	fermast	fermissons, fermissiens	fermissoiz, fermissez, fermissiez	fermassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	ferme	—	fermons	fermez	—

Descendants

• French: fermer

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English fermour; compare English farmer.

Noun

fermer (plural fermers)

1. farmer