Заплатка закрывает дырку.

Закрывает is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the imperfective verb закрывать.

• закрывать = imperfective, to cover / to close
• закрывает = it covers / is covering

Here the subject is заплатка, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular: закрывает.

A few useful comparisons:

• я закрываю = I cover
• ты закрываешь = you cover
• он / она / оно закрывает = he / she / it covers
• они закрывают = they cover

закрыть is a different verb form: it is the perfective infinitive, often meaning to close / to cover up completely.
And закрываеть is simply not a correct Russian spelling.

Because дырку is in the accusative case. It is the direct object of the verb закрывает.

The basic dictionary form is:

• дырка = hole

But after a verb like закрывать, the thing being covered goes into the accusative:

• заплатка закрывает дырку = the patch covers the hole

Since дырка is a feminine noun ending in -а, its accusative singular usually changes like this:

• nominative: дырка
• accusative: дырку

This is a very common pattern:

• книга → книгу
• машина → машину
• дырка → дырку

Because заплатка is the subject of the sentence, and subjects are normally in the nominative case.

So here:

• заплатка = the patch → subject
• дырку = the hole → direct object

That is why the sentence has:

• Заплатка закрывает дырку

Russian often marks who is doing the action and what receives the action by case endings, not just by word order.

Заплатка means a patch, especially a piece of material used to cover or repair a hole.

It can be used for:

• clothes
• fabric
• shoes
• other torn things

It can also be used figuratively in some contexts, but in a basic sentence like this it usually means a physical patch.

Related word:

• заплата — also means patch
• заплатка often sounds a bit more everyday and concrete

For a learner, the main thing is: заплатка = a patch used to cover a hole.

Yes, дырка is a very common everyday word for hole.

It often refers to:

• a hole in clothing
• a hole in a wall
• a small opening
• a tear or gap

There is also дыра, which can also mean hole, but it often sounds bigger, rougher, or more expressive depending on context.

Very roughly:

• дырка = small or ordinary hole
• дыра = hole, often bigger or more dramatic

In this sentence, дырка is perfectly natural.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English because case endings already show grammatical roles.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Заплатка закрывает дырку.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Дырку закрывает заплатка.
• Закрывает дырку заплатка.

These can sound more marked, literary, or emphatic depending on context.

For example:

• Дырку закрывает заплатка puts more attention on дырку
• Заплатка закрывает дырку is the most neutral version for a learner

So yes, the order can change, but the original sentence is the best basic pattern.

Russian does not have articles like English a and the.

So:

• заплатка can mean a patch or the patch
• дырку can mean a hole or the hole

Which one is meant depends on context.

In a simple isolated sentence like this, English might translate it as either:

• A patch covers a hole
• The patch covers the hole

Usually context tells you which one sounds best.

Закрывать has a broad meaning. It can mean:

• to close
• to cover
• to shut

In this sentence, with заплатка and дырку, the natural English meaning is cover.

Examples in other contexts:

• закрывать дверь = to close the door
• закрывать окно = to shut the window
• закрывать дырку = to cover a hole

So the exact English translation depends on what is being закрывать-ed.

Заплатка is feminine.

You can tell because it ends in -а, which is a very common feminine ending.

Its gender matters because it affects agreement in other parts of Russian, especially:

• past tense verbs
• adjectives
• pronouns

For example:

• новая заплатка = a new patch
• заплатка была большая = the patch was big

In the present tense, the verb закрывает does not show gender, so here gender is not visible in the verb form.

Because Russian often omits pronouns when the subject is already stated.

Here the subject is the noun заплатка, so закрывает means:

• covers

More literally, if you replaced the noun with a pronoun, it would be:

• она закрывает дырку = it / she covers the hole

Since заплатка is a feminine noun, the corresponding pronoun is grammatically она, even though in English we usually say it for objects.

So:

• заплатка закрывает = the patch covers / it covers

The stress is:

• запла́тка
• закрыва́ет
• ды́рку

That gives:

• Запла́тка закрыва́ет ды́рку.

Stress is important in Russian because it is not always predictable and can affect pronunciation a lot.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• запла́тка = za-PLAT-ka
• закрыва́ет = za-kry-VA-yet
• ды́рку = DEER-koo

The exact sounds are not identical to English, but this helps you place the stress correctly.

Possibly, but the meaning changes a little.

• закрывает дырку = covers the hole / closes it off
• прикрывает дырку = partly covers the hole, or covers it lightly
• покрывает дырку is less natural in this exact everyday sense

For a physical patch over a hole, закрывает дырку sounds very natural and clear.

If you want the simple learner-friendly choice for this sentence, закрывает is the best one to focus on.

If both nouns become plural, you get:

• Заплатки закрывают дырки.

Changes:

• заплатка → заплатки = patches
• закрывает → закрывают = cover
• дырка → дырки = holes

So:

• singular: Заплатка закрывает дырку.
• plural: Заплатки закрывают дырки.

This is a good way to see how Russian changes both nouns and verbs to match number.