Schließe

Schließe is a form of the German verb schließen, meaning to close or shut. The verb nach is used to indicate bringing something to a stop, sealing, or concluding. In everyday language, schließen covers actions such as closing a door, a window, a container, or a contract, as well as figurative closures like ending a discussion or a process.

In present tense, schließen follows the standard irregular pattern: ich schließe, du schließt, er/sie/es schließt, wir schließen, ihr schließt, Sie schließen. The infinitive is schließen, and the simple past is schloss. The past participle is geschlossen, which is used with the auxiliary haben to form the perfect tenses, for example ich habe geschlossen. The verb also has imperative forms: Schließe! for informal singular (used to tell someone to close something), and Schließen Sie! for formal singular or plural. The Konjunktiv I form, used in indirect speech, generally mirrors the indicative forms in the first person: ich schließe, du schließt, er schließe.

Common usage includes literal actions such as ein Fenster schließen (to close a window) or eine Akte schließen (to close a file), as well as figurative closures like eine Vereinbarung schließen (to conclude an agreement) or eine Tür schließen (to shut the door). Etymologically, schließen is related to Dutch sluiten and English close, and belongs to the broader Germanic verb family with cognates in neighboring languages.

In summary, schließe and its related forms represent a core verb for enclosure, termination, and completion, with both concrete and metaphorical applications in German.