סגר sagár, “close,” is a strong pa'al verb, root ס־ג־ר. It is the deliberate mirror of פתח “open”: pa'al presents an agent acting on something, nif'al presents the thing closing or the operation shutting down, and the passive participle presents a state. Its cholam future also creates an important spelling contrast with פתח.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | סָגַרְתִּי sagárti | אֶסְגּוֹר esgór |
| אתה | סָגַרְתָּ sagárta | תִּסְגּוֹר tisgór |
| את | סָגַרְתְּ sagárt | תִּסְגְּרִי tisgerí |
| הוא | סָגַר sagár | יִסְגּוֹר yisgór |
| היא | סָגְרָה sagrá | תִּסְגּוֹר tisgór |
| אנחנו | סָגַרְנוּ sagárnu | נִסְגּוֹר nisgór |
| אתם / אתן | סְגַרְתֶּם / סְגַרְתֶּן sgartém / sgartén | תִּסְגְּרוּ tisgerú |
| הם / הן | סָגְרוּ sagrú | יִסְגְּרוּ yisgerú |
| Form | Paradigm | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | סוֹגֵר sogér · סוֹגֶרֶת sogéret · סוֹגְרִים sogrím · סוֹגְרוֹת sogrót | neutral |
| imperative | סְגוֹר sgór · סִגְרִי sigrí · סִגְרוּ sigrú | firm; future commands are commoner in speech |
| infinitive | לִסְגּוֹר lisgór | neutral |
| action noun | סְגִירָה segirá | closing, closure |
| passive participle | סָגוּר sagúr · סְגוּרָה segurá · סְגוּרִים segurím · סְגוּרוֹת segurót | closed state |
The specifically feminine plural future תִּסְגּוֹרְנָה tisgórna is (formal or literary); ordinary modern Hebrew uses תסגרו for any plural group. Careful final-stressed סְגַרְתֶּם / סְגַרְתֶּן contrasts with conversational sagártem / sagárten.
תסגור את החלון, קר.
tisgór et hakhalón, kar.
Close the window; it's cold. (to a man)
מתי סוגרים?
matái sogrím?
What time are you closing? / What time does it close?
Agent, event and state
English close can describe all three stages with the same verb. Hebrew normally marks them separately. Transitive pa'al סגר את names the agent; nif'al נסגר lets the affected subject occupy the subject position; סגור describes the resulting state. See middle-voice nif'al and passive participles.
סגרתי את הדלת בשקט.
sagárti et hadélet beshéket.
I closed the door quietly.
החלון נסגר ברוח.
hakhalón nisgár barúakh.
The window closed in the wind.
הבנק סגור היום.
habánk sagúr hayóm.
The bank is closed today.
This is parallel to פתח / נפתח / פתוח, with one morphological break. נפתח can be both “we will open” and “was opened”; נסגור, with cholam written as ו, is only “we will close,” while nif'al is נסגר.
From doors to deals
The core idea is bringing an open process or space to an endpoint. It extends naturally to סגר פער “close a gap,” סגר עסקה “close a deal,” סגר עסק “shut down a business,” סגר הרמטית “seal hermetically,” and military or historical “besiege.” Context supplies what kind of boundary has been closed.
הכביש סגור בגלל תאונה.
hakvísh sagúr biglál te'uná.
The road is closed because of an accident.
החברה סגרה את המפעל אחרי שלושים שנה.
hakhevrá sagrá et hamif'ál akharéi shloshím shaná.
The company closed the factory after thirty years.
סגר על is a neutral dictionary sense meaning “settle on, decide definitively,” not merely slang. It underlies conversational סגרנו? “Are we agreed?”, סגור! “Done!/Agreed!” (informal), and סגר פינה “tie up a loose end” (informal).
סגרנו על יום שלישי בשמונה.
sagárnu al yom shlishí bishmóne.
We settled on Tuesday at eight.
סגרנו? אני שולחת לכולם הזמנה.
sagárnu? aní sholákhat lekhulám hazmaná.
Are we agreed? I'm sending everyone an invitation. (f. speaker, informal)
סגור, נדבר מחר.
sagúr, nedabér makhár.
Done, we'll talk tomorrow. (informal)
Unpointed reading and command register
Bare סגור is either imperative סְגוֹר sgór, “close!”, or adjective סָגוּר sagúr, “closed.” Bare סגר is past סָגַר sagár or noun סֶגֶר séger, a fastening, restriction, or lockdown. Syntax decides: הכביש סגור must be a state, while sentence-initial סגור את הדלת is a command.
The true imperative is normal in instructions but can sound sharp face to face. Everyday speech often uses future תסגור instead. Negation must use אל תסגור, never an imperative after אל.
אל תסגור עדיין; דנה בדרך.
al tisgór adáyin; dána badérekh.
Don't close yet; Dana is on her way.
Common Mistakes
1. Using the state adjective for an event.
❌ המסעדה סגורה אתמול.
Incorrect for the event 'closed down yesterday'; use nif'al נסגרה.
✅ המסעדה נסגרה אתמול, אבל הסניף השני עדיין פתוח.
hamis'adá nisgerá etmól, avál hasnif hashení adáyin patúakh.
The restaurant closed yesterday, but the other branch is still open.
2. Omitting על in the decision sense.
❌ סגרנו יום שלישי.
Incorrect for 'we settled on Tuesday'; this sense takes על.
✅ סגרנו על יום שלישי, ואם משהו ישתנה אודיע לך.
sagárnu al yom shlishí, ve'im mashéhu yishtané odía lekhá.
We settled on Tuesday, and if anything changes I'll let you know. (to a man)
3. Writing a patach-style future.
❌ מחר נסגר מוקדם.
Incorrect if you mean 'we will close early'; נסגר without ו reads as nif'al. Write נסגור.
✅ מחר נסגור מוקדם בגלל החג.
makhár nisgór mukdám biglál hakhág.
Tomorrow we'll close early because of the holiday.
Key Takeaways
- Use סגר את for an agent, נסגר for a closing event, and סגור for the state.
- The cholam future keeps ו: נסגור is distinct from nif'al נסגר.
- סגר על means settle on; סגר עסקה / פער / עסק extend the endpoint idea.
- Unpointed סגור can be sgór “close!” or sagúr “closed.”
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