Which to use
“construire” and “construites” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,698
- “construire” frequency rank
- #11,743
- “construites” frequency rank
- 13441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | construire | construites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bâtir, élever, avec de la pierre, du bois, du métal, etc., d’après un plan déterminé. | Participe passé féminin pluriel de construire. |
Where the eye mixes construire and construites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. construire runs 10 letters (CVCCCCVVCV) against construites's 11 (CVCCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses construire with construites
A purely visual mix-up. construire (\kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ\) and construites (\kɔ̃s.tʁɥit\) 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 13441, 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\. construites is at rank #11,743, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃s.tʁɥit\.
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 13441, this pair ranks #401,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of construire vs construites
Shared letters: ceinorstu. Private to "construire": -. Private to "construites": -.
"construire" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV · "construites" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- construire ← cconstruire · cnostruire · connstruire · consrtuire · consstruire · constriure · constrruire · construier
- construites ← cconstruites · cnostruites · connstruites · consrtuites · consstruites · constriutes · constrruites · construiets
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "construire" for "construites" ever safe?
Frequency check: "construire" vs "construites" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "construites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "construire" and "construites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "construisez vs construites". 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 #401,033 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.