Translation guide
The English word "fold" has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: bending something flexible (like paper or clothes), closing something hinged, crossing your arms, and the metaphorical sense of a business failing. It also touches on folding in cooking and the noun form.
To bend a flat, flexible object so that one part lies on top of another, creating a crease.
The most common verb for folding paper, origami, or bending something thin and flat. Transitive (you fold something).
Please fold the paper in half.
He folded the letter neatly.
Specifically means to fold something up neatly for storage, like clothes, a map, or a folding chair. Emphasizes the result of being compact.
Please fold the laundry neatly.
I folded up the map and put it in my pocket.
Intransitive counterpart of 折る. Means something folds or gets folded, or can be folded. Also used for something snapping/breaking.
This paper folds easily.
Often used for folding clothes, futons, or umbrellas. Similar to 折りたたむ but more common for everyday items like laundry.
I folded the futon and put it away in the closet.
To bring two parts of an object together by rotating on a hinge, often making it compact.
Used for folding hinged objects like chairs, tables, knives, or umbrellas. Focuses on making them compact.
I folded the knife and put it in my pocket.
General verb for closing something, including folding a laptop, book, or fan. Not specific to folding, but natural for hinged items.
To bring your arms together across your chest.
The standard phrase for folding or crossing your arms. Literally 'to intertwine arms'.
He was deep in thought with his arms folded.
To cease operations due to financial failure.
To gently mix a light ingredient into a heavier mixture without deflating it.
The line or mark made by folding something.
折る is the basic 'fold' for paper or thin objects. 折りたたむ emphasizes folding something up compactly (chairs, maps). 畳む is common for laundry and futons. For closing a laptop, 閉じる is more natural than any fold verb.
While 折る can technically be used for folding clothes, 畳む or 折りたたむ is much more natural. 折る on fabric often implies a sharp crease or bending, not neat folding.
Fold the paper in half.
He folded his arms and waited.
The startup folded after just one year.
This chair can be folded.
ノートパソコンを閉じて会議を終えた。
I closed my laptop and ended the meeting.
あの店、潰れちゃったんだって。
I heard that shop folded.