Which to use
“construire” is a verb and “construit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,698
- “construire” frequency rank
- #2,311
- “construit” frequency rank
- 4009
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | construire | construit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bâtir, élever, avec de la pierre, du bois, du métal, etc., d’après un plan déterminé. | Résultat d'une construction, par opposition à un phénomène naturel ou éternel. |
Where the eye mixes construire and construit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses construire with construit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: construire is \kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ\ while construit is \kɔ̃s.tʁɥi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4009, 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\. construit is at rank #2,311, tagged as anoun, 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 4009, this pair ranks #432,674 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of construire vs construit
Shared letters: cinorstu. Private to "construire": e. Private to "construit": -.
"construire" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV · "construit" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- construire ← cconstruire · cnostruire · connstruire · consrtuire · consstruire · constriure · constrruire · construier
- construit ← cconstruit · cnostruit · connstruit · consrtuit · consstruit · constriut · constrruit · construitt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "construire" for "construit" ever safe?
Which is more common, "construire" or "construit"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "construire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "construit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,674 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "construire" and "construit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "construire 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 #432,674 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.