Which to use
“construir” and “construye” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,599
- “construir” frequency rank
- #6,995
- “construye” frequency rank
- 8594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | construir | construye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Edificar, hacer de nueva planta una obra de ingeniería, arquitectura o albañilería, como una casa o un edificio. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de construir. |
Where the eye mixes construir and construye
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. construir (CVCCCCVVC) and construye (CVCCCCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses construir with construye
A purely visual mix-up. construir ([kõnsˈt̪ɾwiɾ]) and construye ([kõnsˈt̪ɾuʝe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
construir is recorded at frequency rank #1,599, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnsˈt̪ɾwiɾ]. construye is at rank #6,995, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõnsˈt̪ɾuʝe].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 8594, this pair ranks #304,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of construir vs construye
Shared letters: cnorstu. Private to "construir": i. Private to "construye": ey.
"construir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC · "construye" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "construir" and "construye" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "construir" or "construye" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "construir" and "construye" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "construir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "construye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "construir" and "construye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "construían vs construir". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #304,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.