close
- closed - shut
‘close’ or ‘shut’
If you close /kləʊz/ something such as a door, you move it so that it covers or fills a hole or gap.
He opened the door and closed it behind him.
You can also say that you shut something such as a door. There is no difference in meaning. The past tense and -ed participle of shut is shut.
I shut the door quietly.
Both closed and shut can be adjectives used after a linking verb.
All the other downstairs rooms are dark and the shutters are closed.
The windows were all shut.
You can use either close or shut to say that work or business stops for a short time in a shop or public building.
Many libraries close on Saturdays at 1 p.m.
What time do the shops shut?
‘close’ or ‘closed’ only
Only closed can be used in front of a noun. You can talk about a closed window, but not a ‘shut’ window.
He listened to her voice coming faintly through the closed door.
You can say that a road, border, or airport is closed.
The border was closed without notice around midnight.
Don't say that a road, border, or airport ‘is shut’.
Be careful
Don't confuse the verb close with the adjective close /kləʊs/. If something is close to something else, it is near to it.
Don't confuse the verb close with the adjective close /kləʊs/. If something is close to something else, it is near to it.
➜ See near - close