Which to use
“construire” and “construis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,698
- “construire” frequency rank
- #38,727
- “construis” frequency rank
- 40425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | construire | construis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bâtir, élever, avec de la pierre, du bois, du métal, etc., d’après un plan déterminé. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de construire. |
Where the eye mixes construire and construis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. construire runs 10 letters (CVCCCCVVCV) against construis's 9 (CVCCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: construire vs construis
A purely visual mix-up. construire (\kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ\) and construis (\kɔ̃s.tʁɥi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
construire is recorded at frequency rank #1,698, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ\. construis is at rank #38,727, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃s.tʁɥi\.
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 40425, this pair ranks #240,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of construire vs construis
Shared letters: cinorstu. Private to "construire": e. Private to "construis": -.
"construire" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV · "construis" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- construire ← cconstruire · cnostruire · connstruire · consrtuire · consstruire · constriure · constrruire · construier
- construis ← cconstruis · cnostruis · connstruis · consrtuis · consstruis · constrius · constrruis · construiss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "construire" for "construis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "construire" or "construis"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "construire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "construis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "construire" and "construis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "construis vs construisez". 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 #240,604 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.