construis

Construis is a form of the French verb construire, meaning to build or to construct. In the present tense it corresponds to the second-person singular subject tu: tu construis, meaning you build. It is also the affirmative imperative form for the tu subject: Construis! meaning Build!

The verb construire derives from Latin construere, formed from con- “together” and struere “to pile up, to build.” Construit is the past participle of construire, and construire belongs to the irregular -uire family of verbs in French. In the present tense, its full conjugation is je construis, tu construis, il/elle/on construit, nous construisons, vous construisez, ils/elles construisent.

Usage and nuances: Construis is used for both physical construction and metaphorical building, such as planning, forming a theory, or developing an argument. The imperative Construis! is used to give a direct command to someone to begin building or creating something. Example sentences include “Tu construis une maison” (You are building a house) and “Conduis le projet à terme” would use a different verb form; a direct command with this stem would be “Construis une extension de la maison” (Build an extension to the house).

See also: construire, construction (noun), past participle construit, conjugation patterns of -uire verbs.