Languages › French How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Construire' ('to Build') All French verbs ending in '-uire' are conjugated like 'construire' Share Flipboard Email Print New house under construction. nncontracting/pixabay French Grammar Pronunciation & Conversation Vocabulary Resources For Teachers By Laura K. Lawless Updated February 21, 2020 Construire, meaning "to build," "to construct," "to develop," "to manufacture," is a highly irregular French -re verb that doesn't follow major conjugation patterns. The table below shows the irregular simple conjugations of construire. Note that the table does not include compound conjugations, which consists of a form of the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle construit. Within irregular French -re verbs, there are a few verbs that demonstrate patterns, including verbs conjugated like prendre, battre, mettre and rompre, and verbs ending in -craindre, -peindre, and -oindre. Construire, to the contrary, is one of those highly irregular French verbs with unusual and unwieldy conjugations. They are so irregular you just have to memorize them to use them correctly. Very irregular -re verbs such as construire also include: absoudre, boire, clore, conclure, conduire, confire, connaître, coudre, croire, dire, écrire, faire, inscrire, lire, moudre, naître, plaire, rire, suivre, and vivre. There is hope for the student, though, because all of the very irregular verbs ending in -uire are conjugated the same. VERBS ENDING IN '-UIRE' Highly irregular verbs ending in -uire are all conjugated like construire. They include: s'autodétruire > to self-destruct conduire > to drivecoproduire > to coproduce cuire > to cook déconstruire > to deconstruct détruire > to destroy éconduire > to get rid of, jilt, reject enduire > to coat, cover, plaster induire > to incite, induce instruire > to instruct, teach, instruct, educate introduire > introduce méconduire > to misbehave nuire > to harm produire > to produce recuire > to cook longer, to soak réduire > to reduce reconduire > to escort, renew, show to the door reconstruire > to reconstruct réintroduire > to reintroduce reproduire > to reproduce séduire > to seduce surproduire > to overproduce traduire > translate 'Construire': Examples and Expressions Construire can be used as a transitive verb that takes a direct object or as a passive pronominal verb. construire quelque chose a partir de rien > to build something from scratchune maison récemment construite > a recently built house / a new houseL'immeuble s'est construit très vite. > The building went up very quickly. / The building was constructed very quickly. Comment ça se construit ? > How is it built? un permis de construire / permis de construire modificatif > building permit (US), planning permission (UK) délivrance d'un permis de construire > issuance of a building permitretrait de permis de construire > revocation of a building permitconstruire en dur > to build a permanent structureconstruire en maçonnerie > to build in masonry (stones or brick)construire des châteaux en Espagne > to build castles in Spain / to build castles in the airconstruire des logements bon marché > to build cheap housingse faire construire une maison > to have a house builtLeur rêve, c'est de pouvoir faire construire. > They dream of having their own house built.se construire > to build oneselfse construire une morale > to build a moral code to live byconstruire une alliance (figurative) > to build an alliance, a theoryTous ensemble pour construire l'Europe ! (motto) > All united to build a new Europe!Construire correctement une phrase (grammar) > to construct a sentence properlyOn construit "vouloir" avec le subjonctif. > Vouloir takes the subjunctive.Ça se construit par ici ! (familiar) > A lot of stuff is going up. / A lot of building is going on around here !se construire avec (grammar) > to be constructed with, to take Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French '-re' Verb 'Construire' Present Future Imperfect Present participle je construis construirai construisais construisant tu construis construiras construisais il construit construira construisait Passé composé nous construisons construirons construisions Auxiliary verb avoir vous construisez construirez construisiez Past participle construit ils construisent construiront construisaient Subjunctive Conditional Passé simple Imperfect subjunctive je construise construirais construisis construisisse tu construises construirais construisis construisisses il construise construirait construisit construisît nous construisions construirions construisîmes construisissions vous construisiez construiriez construisîtes construisissiez ils construisent construiraient construisirent construisissent Imperative (tu) construis (nous) construisons (vous) construisez Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Lawless, Laura K. "How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Construire' ('to Build')." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/construire-to-build-construct-1370003. Lawless, Laura K. (2020, August 26). How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Construire' ('to Build'). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/construire-to-build-construct-1370003 Lawless, Laura K. "How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Construire' ('to Build')." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/construire-to-build-construct-1370003 (accessed January 26, 2021). copy citation