Vocabulary

[capriccio0009921]

May i know the difference between tojiru and shimeru? From what i know, both can mean the same thing (shut or close)? Did i get it right?

[natsukoy9313]

capriccio0009921-san,
Yes, you're right!
Both means the same/similar thing and the difference is slight.
Shimeru: to reduce or eliminate an opening space in an objects such as door, window, and box.
Tojiru: to make an object, which is "open", go back to unopen status.

This also means that "tojiru" has to be an action to "close completely" (as it's said above, "unopen status"),
but "shimeru" could be to "close completely" or "half" or "a bit".
Hope this helps!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[mmmason8967]

Both means the same/similar thing and the difference is slight.
Shimeru: to reduce or eliminate an opening space in an objects such as door, window, and box.
Tojiru: to make an object, which is "open", go back to unopen status.

So you would use tojiru for eyes, books and umbrellas?

I notice that for the shimeru examples like door and box, opening and closing is the main thing they do. A door that does not open isn't really a door, and a box that won't open isn't really a box.

For the tojiru examples like eyes or umbrella, opening and closing is something they do but it's not the main purpose. Eyes are used for seeing, umbrellas are used to keep rain off.

Is that just a coincidence because of the examples that we used?

マイケル

[natsukoy9313]

マイケルさん、
That's an interesting observation!!
I think how you "position" the "main purpose" is very interesting, but it also depends on person. I mean, the door could be there so that people can open the path through, OR, it's there to close the space. However, books and umbrella's case, it totally make sense!! Well done!!

One thing I didn't mention is "the feature of itself". For using "tojiru", it's not only about closing, but also the action of closing has to be with the feature of the object itself. This is why you can't use "shimeru" for eyes, but it has to be "tojiru". On the other hand, when you use "shimeru", the object itself usually cannot take that action (someone would do that).
Hope this helps too!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com