construir Imperfect Conjugation
construir — build
The imperfect of construir is regular, following the standard -ía endings for -ir verbs.
construir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe building projects that were ongoing in the past, or to describe what people 'used to build' (like LEGOs as a kid).
Notes on construir in the Imperfect
Construir is regular in the imperfect. Note that every form has an accent on the 'í'.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo siempre construía castillos de arena.
As a child, I always used to build sandcastles.
yo
En esa época, construían las casas con piedra.
In those days, they built houses with stone.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i'.
Correct: construíamos
Why: All -ir verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'i' to maintain the correct stress.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'construir' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: construyo
In the present tense, construir adds a 'y' before the ending in all forms except 'nosotros' and 'vosotros'.
Preterite
yo: construí
The preterite of construir is irregular in the third person, swapping 'i' for 'y' (construyó, construyeron).
Future
yo: construiré
The future tense of construir is completely regular, using the full infinitive as the stem.
Conditional
yo: construiría
The conditional of construir is regular, adding -ía endings to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: construya
The present subjunctive of construir uses the 'y' from the 'yo' form: construya, construyas, etc.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: construyera
The imperfect subjunctive is based on the preterite 'ellos' form: construyeran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: construye
The imperative uses 'construye' for 'tú' and 'construya/n' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no construyas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no construyas, no construya.