Construire Conjugation in French
construire means “to build” in English, and it is one of the verbs French learners meet early — it sits at frequency rank 89 in VerbFlow’s French list. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -re verb, and this page gives you its complete conjugation — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je construis la maison tous les jours.” — “I build the house every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: construire
- English: to build
- Verb type: Non-reflexive, Irregular
- Irregular in: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: en construisant
- Past participle: construit
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for construire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for construire. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construis |
| tu | construis |
| il/elle | construit |
| nous | construisons |
| vous | construisez |
| ils/elles | construisent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construisis |
| tu | construisis |
| il/elle | construisit |
| nous | construisîmes |
| vous | construisîtes |
| ils/elles | construisirent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construisais |
| tu | construisais |
| il/elle | construisait |
| nous | construisions |
| vous | construisiez |
| ils/elles | construisaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construirai |
| tu | construiras |
| il/elle | construira |
| nous | construirons |
| vous | construirez |
| ils/elles | construiront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construirais |
| tu | construirais |
| il/elle | construirait |
| nous | construirions |
| vous | construiriez |
| ils/elles | construiraient |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai construit |
| tu | as construit |
| il/elle | a construit |
| nous | avons construit |
| vous | avez construit |
| ils/elles | ont construit |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais construit |
| tu | avais construit |
| il/elle | avait construit |
| nous | avions construit |
| vous | aviez construit |
| ils/elles | avaient construit |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai construit |
| tu | auras construit |
| il/elle | aura construit |
| nous | aurons construit |
| vous | aurez construit |
| ils/elles | auront construit |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais construit |
| tu | aurais construit |
| il/elle | aurait construit |
| nous | aurions construit |
| vous | auriez construit |
| ils/elles | auraient construit |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construise |
| tu | construises |
| il/elle | construise |
| nous | construisions |
| vous | construisiez |
| ils/elles | construisent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | construisisse |
| tu | construisisses |
| il/elle | construisît |
| nous | construisissions |
| vous | construisissiez |
| ils/elles | construisissent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | construis |
| nous | construisons |
| vous | construisez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | construis |
| nous | construisons |
| vous | construisez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en construisant |
| Past participle | construit |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With construire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Je construis la maison tous les jours.” — “I build the house every day.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. With construire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tu construisis la maison la semaine dernière.” — “You built the house last week.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Il construisait la maison ce matin.” — “He used to build the house this morning.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, and for predictions. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Nous construirons la maison.” — “We will build the house.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Vous construiriez la maison.” — “You would build the house.”
Present perfect
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Ils ont construit la maison hier.” — “They have built the house yesterday.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “J'avais construit la maison hier.” — “I had built the house yesterday.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Tu auras construit la maison la semaine prochaine.” — “You will have built the house next week.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Il aurait construit la maison ce matin.” — “He would have built the house this morning.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With construire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Il est important que nous construisions la maison tous les jours.” — “It is important that We build the house every day.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mostly in formal and literary French. With construire this tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard -re pattern. For example: “Il fallait que vous construisissiez la maison hier.” — “It was necessary that You build the house yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With construire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Construisez la maison !” — “Build the house!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With construire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ne construis pas la maison !” — “Do not build the house!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en construisant is used after en for an action happening at the same time as the main verb. For example: “En construisant, je commence la journée.” — “While building, I start the day.” The past participle construit is used with avoir in the perfect tenses, as in j'ai construit — “I have built the house yesterday.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with construire, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je construis la maison à la maison.” — “I build the house at home.”
- “Tu construisis la maison ce matin.” — “You built the house this morning.”
- “Il construisait la maison avec Paul.” — “He used to build the house with Paul.”
- “Je construirai la maison demain.” — “I will build the house tomorrow.”
- “Tu construirais la maison tous les jours.” — “You would build the house every day.”
- “Il a construit la maison la semaine dernière.” — “He has built the house last week.”
- “J'avais construit la maison ce matin.” — “I had built the house this morning.”
- “Tu auras construit la maison demain.” — “You will have built the house tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il construise la maison tous les jours.” — “It is important that He build the house every day.”
- “Construis la maison !” — “Build the house!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je construire la maison.”
✓ Right: “Je construis la maison tous les jours.”
The infinitive construire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form construis.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je construis la maison.”
✓ Right: “Je construis la maison tous les jours.”
construis is the tu form, not the je form. The je form is construis — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je construis la maison hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai construit la maison hier.”
Hier points to the past, so use the present perfect ai construit here, not the present construis.
4. Mixing up the stem in the stressed forms
✗ Wrong: “Je construisons la maison.”
✓ Right: “Je construis la maison tous les jours.”
construire is irregular in present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative: those tenses do not follow the regular -re pattern, so learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. The other tenses follow the regular pattern.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis construit la maison hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai construit la maison hier.”
construire takes avoir in the compound tenses, not être: ai construit, never the être form.
6. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que nous construisons la maison.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que nous construisions la maison.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use construisions here, not the indicative construisons.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on construire. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of construire in the Present indicative?
- A) construirai
- B) construise
- C) construisis
- D) construis
What is the il/elle form of construire in the Passé simple?
- A) construit
- B) construisis
- C) construisîtes
- D) construisit
What is the nous form of construire in the Imperfect?
- A) construisais
- B) construisait
- C) aurions construit
- D) construisions
What is the tu form of construire in the Future?
- A) construiras
- B) as construit
- C) construises
- D) construisais
What is the je form of construire in the Conditional?
- A) construirais
- B) construis
- C) construisisse
- D) construisis
What is the il/elle form of construire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) construise
- B) a construit
- C) construisît
- D) construisit
What is the nous form of construire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) construirions
- B) construisîmes
- C) avons construit
- D) avions construit
What is the gerund of construire?
- A) détruisant
- B) en construisant
- C) admirant
- D) admettant
What is the past participle of construire?
- A) montré
- B) construit
- C) amené
- D) coupé
What does construire mean in English?
- A) improve
- B) compare
- C) get ready
- D) build
Answer key
- D) construis — the je form of construire in the present indicative is construis. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- D) construisit — the il/elle form of construire in the passé simple is construisit. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- D) construisions — the nous form of construire in the imperfect is construisions. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- A) construiras — the tu form of construire in the future is construiras. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- A) construirais — the je form of construire in the conditional is construirais. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- A) construise — the il/elle form of construire in the present subjunctive is construise. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- C) avons construit — the nous form of construire in the present perfect (passé composé) is avons construit. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- B) en construisant — the gerund of construire is en construisant; it is used with en for actions happening at the same time as the main verb. The other options are the present participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) construit — the past participle of construire is construit; perfect tenses use avoir + construit. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) build — construire means “to build” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
How to learn this verb
Learn construire in three passes. First, say the present tense aloud in order — je construis, tu construis, il construit, nous construisons, vous construisez, ils construisent — three times, then write three sentences with the verb. Second, learn the passé composé with its auxiliary: ai construit shows the pattern, and the participle construit is the same in every perfect tense. Third, add one new tense a day, always in a sentence, and test yourself the next day before you learn the next one. A verb you can use in a sentence is learnt; a verb you can only recite is not. Use the Verb Quiz and the Verb Conjugator to check what has stuck, and compare construire with the other verbs in this batch on the French verbs hub.
Frequently asked questions
What does construire mean in English?
construire means “to build”. It is a non-reflexive, irregular verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is construire regular or irregular?
construire is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. construire is irregular in present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative: those tenses do not follow the regular -re pattern, so learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. The other tenses follow the regular pattern.
What are the gerund and past participle of construire?
The gerund is en construisant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as the main verb. The past participle is construit — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in j'ai construit.
How do I say “I build” in French?
Say “Je construis la maison tous les jours.” — “I build the house every day.” The je form of the present is construis, and it is the form you will use most often.
How do you pronounce construire?
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for construire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- construire in the passé composé tense
- construire examples and quiz
- Détruire conjugation — another French verb in this batch.
- Analyser conjugation — another French verb in this batch.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Subjunctive Conjugator — practise construire with the interactive tool.
- Ser Vs Estar Quiz — practise construire with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise construire with the interactive tool.