أَغْلَقَ / يُغْلِقُ is the most useful neutral verb for “close, shut” in contemporary formal Arabic. It is a sound Form-IV verb from root غ-ل-ق and normally takes a direct object: أغلق الباب “close the door,” أغلق الحساب “close the account,” أغلق الطريق “close the road.”
Form IV often has a causative function elsewhere in the language, and “cause something to be closed” helps explain this verb historically. Synchronically, however, أغلق is simply a basic lexical verb; speakers do not calculate its meaning afresh from a Form-I base. Other forms of the root are also real: transitive Form I غَلَقَ البابَ means “shut the door,” while Form II غَلَّقَ الأبوابَ can emphasize closing thoroughly, securely, or one after another. Contemporary learners should use high-frequency أغلق as the neutral default without declaring those alternatives ungrammatical.
See the Form-IV overview for the shared pattern; this page concentrates on the lexical contrasts within the غ-ل-ق family.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Function |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | غ-ل-ق، Form IV | sound and transitive |
| perfect | أَغْلَقَ | he closed / shut |
| imperfect indicative | يُغْلِقُ | he closes / is closing |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | أَغْلِقْ | close! |
| maṣdar | إِغْلَاق | closing, closure, shutdown |
| active participle | مُغْلِق | one closing; closing as an active modifier |
| passive participle | مُغْلَق | closed, shut |
| passive | أُغْلِقَ — يُغْلَقُ | was closed — is closed |
Learn أَغْلَقَ — يُغْلِقُ — أَغْلِقْ — إِغْلَاقًا as a unit. Form IV uses pronounced hamzat al-qaṭʿ in the perfect and command. This differs from the hamzat al-waṣl of Form-I commands such as اِفْتَحْ “open!”: write أغلق, not اغلق or إغلق, in standard spelling.
أغلق الموظف النافذة قبل تشغيل جهاز التكييف.
ʾaghlaqa l-muwaẓẓafu n-nāfidhata qabla tashghīli jihāzi t-takyīf.
The employee closed the window before turning on the air conditioner. (Formal neutral.)
يغلق أمين المكتبة الأبواب عند السادسة مساء.
yughliqu ʾamīnu l-maktabati l-ʾabwāba ʿinda s-sādisati masāʾ.
The librarian closes the doors at six in the evening. (Formal neutral.)
Compact paradigm and voice
As a sound Form-IV verb, أغلق keeps all three radicals. The imperfect prefix has u, and the stem has i in the active.
| Environment | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| perfect samples | أَغْلَقْتُ، أَغْلَقَتْ، أَغْلَقُوا | I/she/they closed |
| indicative samples | أُغْلِقُ، تُغْلِقِينَ، يُغْلِقُونَ | I close; you f.sg. close; they close |
| subjunctive | لَنْ يُغْلِقَ، لَنْ يُغْلِقُوا | will not close |
| jussive | لَمْ يُغْلِقْ، لَمْ يُغْلِقُوا | did not close |
| imperatives | أَغْلِقْ، أَغْلِقِي، أَغْلِقُوا | close! by addressee |
| passive | أُغْلِقَ، يُغْلَقُ | was/is closed |
First-person active أُغْلِقُ “I close” and third-person masculine passive perfect أُغْلِقَ “it was closed” sound similar at the beginning, but their endings and syntax distinguish them. In ordinary unvocalized writing, context performs still more work.
لن تغلق البلدية الطريق إلا بعد خروج آخر حافلة.
lan tughliqa l-baladiyyatu ṭ-ṭarīqa ʾillā baʿda khurūji ʾākhiri ḥāfila.
The municipality will not close the road until the last bus has left. (Formal; subjunctive after لن.)
أغلقوا جميع النوافذ عند سماع إنذار العاصفة.
ʾaghliqū jamīʿa n-nawāfidhi ʿinda samāʿi ʾindhāri l-ʿāṣifa.
Close all the windows when you hear the storm warning. (Formal instruction to a group.)
Ranked meanings and valency
1. Close or shut a physical object: direct object
Doors, windows, gates, lids, valves, and containers are direct objects. An instrument or manner can follow in a separate phrase, but no preposition is placed before the ordinary object.
أغلقت الطبيبة العلبة بإحكام بعد أخذ العينة.
ʾaghlaqati ṭ-ṭabībatu l-ʿulbata biʾiḥkāmin baʿda ʾakhdhi l-ʿayyina.
The doctor closed the container tightly after taking the sample. (Formal neutral.)
أغلق الباب على نفسه كي لا يزعجه أحد.
ʾaghlaqa l-bāba ʿalā nafsihi kay lā yuzʿijahu ʾaḥad.
He shut the door on himself so that no one would disturb him. (Formal neutral.)
The phrase أغلق الباب على نفسه / عليهم presents someone as enclosed behind the closed door. أغلق الباب في وجهه is the stronger figurative or literal “shut the door in his face.” These governed phrases add a participant; they do not change الباب from the direct object.
2. Close a place, route, or border
With a business or facility, أغلق المتجر can mean “closed the shop” for the day or shut it down. To state that an owner or institution ceased operations, name the agent or say أغلق أبوابه. Passive أُغلق المتجر is especially common when the decision-maker is unknown or unimportant.
أغلقت السلطات الميناء مؤقتا بسبب الرياح القوية.
ʾaghlaqati s-suluṭātu l-mīnāʾa muʾaqqatan bisababi r-riyāḥi l-qawiyya.
The authorities temporarily closed the port because of strong winds. (Journalistic/formal.)
أغلق المصنع أبوابه نهائيا بعد انخفاض الطلب.
ʾaghlaqa l-maṣnaʿu ʾabwābahu nihāʾiyyan baʿda nkhifāḍi ṭ-ṭalab.
The factory closed permanently after demand fell. (Business/journalistic.)
Like فتح, the verb also has a schedule use with an institution as subject: يغلق المصرف في الثالثة “the bank closes at three.” This is conventional ellipsis for ending service or closing its doors. For a physical door that shuts by itself, انغلق الباب is clearer.
انغلق باب المصعد قبل أن نصل إليه.
inghalaqa bābu l-miṣʿadi qabla ʾan naṣila ʾilayh.
The elevator door closed before we reached it. (Formal neutral; intransitive change of state.)
3. End access, a file, or an administrative process
Accounts, application windows, cases, and computer files can be “closed.” أغلق ملف القضية means ending further consideration of the case; أغلق الحساب closes an account; أغلق باب التسجيل ends access to registration. Context distinguishes a digital file from a dossier.
أغلق البنك الحساب بعد تلقي طلب خطي من صاحبه.
ʾaghlaqa l-banku l-ḥisāba baʿda talaqqī ṭalabin khaṭṭiyyin min ṣāḥibih.
The bank closed the account after receiving a written request from its holder. (Administrative/formal.)
أغلقت اللجنة ملف الشكوى لعدم كفاية الأدلة.
ʾaghlaqati l-lajnatu malaffa sh-shakwā liʿadami kifāyati l-ʾadilla.
The committee closed the complaint file for lack of sufficient evidence. (Administrative/legal.)
For ceremonies and meetings, اختتم “conclude” may be more idiomatic than a literal translation of English close: اختتم الرئيس الجلسة “the chair concluded the session.” أغلق is still natural when access, a file, a channel, or an application window is actually being closed.
4. Block access: أمام or في وجه
أغلق الطريق أمام can be literal “block the road to” or figurative “close off the way for.” أغلق الباب في وجه is forceful and often negative. By contrast, أغلق المكان أمام الجمهور neutrally states that public access was ended.
أغلقت أعمال البناء الممر أمام مستخدمي الكراسي المتحركة.
ʾaghlaqat ʾaʿmālu l-bināʾi l-mamarra ʾamāma mustakhdimī l-karāsiyyi l-mutaḥarrika.
The construction work blocked the passage for wheelchair users. (Formal.)
Passive, result adjective, and root-family contrasts
The passive أُغْلِقَ / يُغْلَقُ is common in news, notices, and administrative prose. مغلق is read مُغْلَق when it describes the resulting state “closed.” Active مُغْلِق is possible but much less frequent in everyday descriptions because speakers normally name the agent directly.
أغلق الطريق الجبلي حتى إشعار آخر.
ʾughliqa ṭ-ṭarīqu l-jabaliyyu ḥattā ʾishʿārin ʾākhar.
The mountain road was closed until further notice. (Official notice; passive.)
المكتب مغلق اليوم، لكنه سيفتح غدا كالمعتاد.
al-maktabu mughlaqun al-yawma, lākinnahu sayaftaḥu ghadan kal-muʿtād.
The office is closed today, but it will open tomorrow as usual. (Public-information register.)
Form I غَلَقَ البابَ يَغْلِقُه غَلْقًا is lexically valid formal Arabic “shut the door.” Form II غَلَّقَ adds intensity, completeness, or plurality in suitable contexts: غلّق الأبواب “shut the doors securely/all up.” It also has Classical and Quranic pedigree. These forms are not errors, but their nuance and frequency differ from neutral modern أغلق.
غلق الحارس الباب، ثم غلق بقية الأبواب واحدا بعد آخر.
ghalaqa l-ḥārisu l-bāba, thumma ghallaqa baqiyyata l-ʾabwābi wāḥidan baʿda ʾākhar.
The guard shut the door, then shut the remaining doors one after another. (Formal contrast: attested Form I, then intensive/distributive Form II.)
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| أَغْلَقَ الْبَابَ / النَّافِذَةَ | close the door/window (neutral) |
| أَغْلَقَ الطَّرِيقَ / الْحُدُودَ | close the road/borders (official/journalistic) |
| أَغْلَقَ حِسَابًا / مِلَفًّا | close an account/file (administrative) |
| أَغْلَقَ أَبْوَابَهُ | close down / cease operations (business/journalistic) |
| أَغْلَقَ الْبَابَ فِي وَجْهِ | shut the door in someone's face (forceful, often figurative) |
| مُغْلَقٌ حَتَّى إِشْعَارٍ آخَرَ | closed until further notice (official notice) |
Common Mistakes
Carrying the perfect's hamza into the imperfect
❌ يأغلق الموظف المكتب في الخامسة.
Incorrect—the derivational hamza of the Form-IV perfect and command is absent from the imperfect; third-person singular begins directly with يـ: يغلق, read yughliqu.
✅ يغلق الموظف المكتب في الخامسة أيام العمل.
yughliqu l-muwaẓẓafu l-maktaba fī l-khāmisati ʾayyāma l-ʿamal.
The employee closes the office at five on working days.
Writing the command with the wrong hamza
❌ إغلق الباب بهدوء.
Incorrect standard spelling—the Form-IV imperative has hamzat al-qaṭʿ above the alif: أغلق.
✅ أغلق الباب بهدوء.
ʾaghliqi l-bāba bihudūʾ.
Close the door quietly.
Confusing active and passive participles
❌ المتجر مغلق اليوم.
mughliq
Incorrect reading for the result ‘closed’—mughliq is active ‘closing’; the result adjective is mughlaq.
✅ المتجر مغلق اليوم بسبب الصيانة.
al-matjaru mughlaqun al-yawma bisababi ṣ-ṣiyāna.
The shop is closed today because of maintenance.
Marking the physical object with بـ
❌ أغلق الحارس بالباب الرئيسي عند منتصف الليل.
Incorrect for ordinary ‘the guard closed the main door’—the thing closed is a direct object, without بـ.
✅ أغلق الحارس الباب الرئيسي عند منتصف الليل.
ʾaghlaqa l-ḥārisu l-bāba r-raʾīsiyya ʿinda muntaṣafi l-layl.
The guard closed the main door at midnight.
Key Takeaways
- Learn أَغْلَقَ — يُغْلِقُ — أَغْلِقْ — إِغْلَاقًا as a sound Form-IV set.
- The thing closed is normally a direct object; أمام، على، في وجه add particular access or enclosure relations.
- Passive أُغْلِقَ / يُغْلَقُ and result adjective مُغْلَق are very common in notices and news.
- غلق is a valid transitive Form I and غلّق a valid intensive/distributive Form II; أغلق remains the safest neutral contemporary default.
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