How to Conjugate "Fermer" (to Close)

In French, the verb fermer means "to close." To make this infinitive verb more useful and construct complete sentences, we need to conjugate it. This lesson will show you how that's done so you can use it in the form of "closed" or "closing," among other simple verb forms.

Conjugating the French Verb Fermer

Among all the French verb conjugations, those that end in -er are the easiest to conjugate for the simple fact that there are so many of them. Fermer is a regular -ER verb and it follows the same pattern as fêter (to celebrate), donner (to give), and countless others. It becomes easier with each new verb you learn.

Identifying the verb stem is always the first step in conjugations. For fermer that is ferm-. To this, we add a variety of infinitive endings that pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense for the sentence. For instance, "I am closing" is "je ferme" and "we will close" is "nous fermerons." It will definitely help your memory if you practice these in context.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	ferme	fermerai	fermais
tu	fermes	fermeras	fermais
il	ferme	fermera	fermait
nous	fermons	fermerons	fermions
vous	fermez	fermerez	fermiez
ils	ferment	fermeront	fermaient

The Present Participle of Fermer

The present participle of fermer is fermant. This is formed by adding -ant to the verb stem. It's an adjective as well as a verb, noun, or gerund.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The passé composé is a common way to express the past tense "closed" in French. To construct this, begin with the subject pronoun and a conjugation of the auxiliary verb avoir, then add the past participle fermé. For example, "I closed" is "j'ai fermé" while "we closed" is "nous avons fermé."

More Simple Fermer Conjugations to Learn

When the act of closing is in some way questionable, the subjunctive verb form is used. In a similar manner, the conditional verb mood implies that the "closing" will only happen if something else does as well.

You will find the passé simple in formal writing. Learning both it and the imperfect subjunctive will do wonders for your reading comprehension.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	ferme	fermerais	fermai	fermasse
tu	fermes	fermerais	fermas	fermasses
il	ferme	fermerait	ferma	fermât
nous	fermions	fermerions	fermâmes	fermassions
vous	fermiez	fermeriez	fermâtes	fermassiez
ils	ferment	fermeraient	fermèrent	fermassent

In short, direct requests and demands, use the imperative form. When doing so, there's no need to include the subject pronoun: simplify "tu ferme" down to "ferme."

	Imperative
(tu)	ferme
(nous)	fermons
(vous)	fermez