Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to build.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | construis | I build | |
| tu | construis | you build | |
| il / elle / on | construit | he / she / it buildson: we build / one builds | |
| nous | construisons | we build | |
| vous | construisez | you build | |
| ils / elles | construisent | they build |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul construit une cabane dans le jardin.
Paul builds a hut in the garden.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai construit | I built | |
| tu | as construit | you built | |
| il / elle / on | a construit | he / she / it builton: we built / one built | |
| nous | avons construit | we built | |
| vous | avez construit | you built | |
| ils / elles | ont construit | they built |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a construit une cabane dans le jardin.
Yesterday, Paul built a hut in the garden.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | construisais | I used to build | |
| tu | construisais | you used to build | |
| il / elle / on | construisait | he / she / it used to buildon: we used to build / one used to build | |
| nous | construisions | we used to build | |
| vous | construisiez | you used to build | |
| ils / elles | construisaient | they used to build |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul construisait une cabane dans le jardin.
Back then, Paul used to build a hut in the garden.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | construirai | I will build | |
| tu | construiras | you will build | |
| il / elle / on | construira | he / she / it will buildon: we will build / one will build | |
| nous | construirons | we will build | |
| vous | construirez | you will build | |
| ils / elles | construiront | they will build |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul construira une cabane dans le jardin.
Later, Paul will build a hut in the garden.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | construirais | I would build | |
| tu | construirais | you would build | |
| il / elle / on | construirait | he / she / it would buildon: we would build / one would build | |
| nous | construirions | we would build | |
| vous | construiriez | you would build | |
| ils / elles | construiraient | they would build |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul construirait une cabane dans le jardin.
Paul would build a hut in the garden.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | construise | (that) I build | |
| tu | construises | (that) you build | |
| il / elle / on | construise | (that) he / she / it buildson: (that) we build / one builds | |
| nous | construisions | (that) we build | |
| vous | construisiez | (that) you build | |
| ils / elles | construisent | (that) they build |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul construise une cabane dans le jardin.
It is possible that Paul builds a hut in the garden.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to build
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations