In Korean, you can’t just use one word for ‘Close.’ It all depends on whether the object is alive or not.
For objects like doors or lids, we always use “닫다”.
The passive form is “닫히다 [다치다]”.
- 문 좀 닫아 주세요. (Please close the door.)
- 문이 닫힙니다. (The door is closing.)
- 뚜껑 좀 닫아 주세요. (Please put the lid back on / Please close the lid.)
- 뚜껑이 잘 안 닫혀요. (The lid won’t close properly. / I can’t put the lid on.)
Now for the “alive” parts.
For eyes, we use ‘감다’. So, you can say “눈 좀 감으세요.” (Please close your eyes.)
Here’s my ‘brain-novel’ theory: The Korean word for black—as an adjective—is ‘검다’. When you close your eyes, everything goes black, right? Maybe 감다 comes from 검다!
I’m a morphology geek who spends too much time with old dictionaries. It’s not in your textbooks, so don’t spread it as fact! Just trying to thicken those neural connections for you!
For the mouth, we have a special word: “다물다”. It’s used ALMOST exclusively for mouths!
If you forget 다물다 and say 닫다, it sounds a bit aggressive. Ever heard “입 닥쳐” in K-dramas? That means “Shut up.”
It’s quite rude, so don’t use it… unless it’s to your close friends like I do!