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 rebuild.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reconstruis | I rebuild | |
| tu | reconstruis | you rebuild | |
| il / elle / on | reconstruit | he / she / it rebuildson: we rebuild / one rebuilds | |
| nous | reconstruisons | we rebuild | |
| vous | reconstruisez | you rebuild | |
| ils / elles | reconstruisent | they rebuild |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le maçon reconstruit le mur après la tempête.
The builder rebuilds the wall after the storm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai reconstruit | I rebuilt | |
| tu | as reconstruit | you rebuilt | |
| il / elle / on | a reconstruit | he / she / it rebuilton: we rebuilt / one rebuilt | |
| nous | avons reconstruit | we rebuilt | |
| vous | avez reconstruit | you rebuilt | |
| ils / elles | ont reconstruit | they rebuilt |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le maçon a reconstruit le mur après la tempête.
Yesterday, the builder rebuilt the wall after the storm.
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’ | reconstruisais | I used to rebuild | |
| tu | reconstruisais | you used to rebuild | |
| il / elle / on | reconstruisait | he / she / it used to rebuildon: we used to rebuild / one used to rebuild | |
| nous | reconstruisions | we used to rebuild | |
| vous | reconstruisiez | you used to rebuild | |
| ils / elles | reconstruisaient | they used to rebuild |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le maçon reconstruisait le mur après la tempête.
Back then, the builder used to rebuild the wall after the storm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reconstruirai | I will rebuild | |
| tu | reconstruiras | you will rebuild | |
| il / elle / on | reconstruira | he / she / it will rebuildon: we will rebuild / one will rebuild | |
| nous | reconstruirons | we will rebuild | |
| vous | reconstruirez | you will rebuild | |
| ils / elles | reconstruiront | they will rebuild |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le maçon reconstruira le mur après la tempête.
Later, the builder will rebuild the wall after the storm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reconstruirais | I would rebuild | |
| tu | reconstruirais | you would rebuild | |
| il / elle / on | reconstruirait | he / she / it would rebuildon: we would rebuild / one would rebuild | |
| nous | reconstruirions | we would rebuild | |
| vous | reconstruiriez | you would rebuild | |
| ils / elles | reconstruiraient | they would rebuild |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le maçon reconstruirait le mur après la tempête.
The builder would rebuild the wall after the storm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reconstruise | (that) I rebuild | |
| tu | reconstruises | (that) you rebuild | |
| il / elle / on | reconstruise | (that) he / she / it rebuildson: (that) we rebuild / one rebuilds | |
| nous | reconstruisions | (that) we rebuild | |
| vous | reconstruisiez | (that) you rebuild | |
| ils / elles | reconstruisent | (that) they rebuild |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le maçon reconstruise le mur après la tempête.
It is possible that the builder rebuilds the wall after the storm.
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
- rebuild (to build again)
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