Skip to content
fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

costruire

to build

  • #191 most used
  • Regular -ire verb
  • Past participle: costruito
  • Gerund: costruendo

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. io I build
  2. tu you build
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she builds
  4. noi we build
  5. voi you all build
  6. loro they build

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

  1. io I built
  2. tu you built
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she built
  4. noi we built
  5. voi you all built
  6. loro they built

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. io I used to build
  2. tu you used to build
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she used to build
  4. noi we used to build
  5. voi you all used to build
  6. loro they used to build

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

  1. io I will build
  2. tu you will build
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she will build
  4. noi we will build
  5. voi you all will build
  6. loro they will build

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

  1. io I would build
  2. tu you would build
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she would build
  4. noi we would build
  5. voi you all would build
  6. loro they would build

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

  1. io (that) I build
  2. tu (that) you build
  3. lui, lei, Lei (that) he/she build
  4. noi (that) we build
  5. voi (that) you all build
  6. loro (that) they build

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders: tu, Lei, noi, voi

  1. tu build!
  2. Lei build! (formal)
  3. noi build! (let’s)
  4. voi build! (all of you)

How to use costruire

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Costruiscono un ponte nuovo sul fiume.

    They're building a new bridge over the river.

  2. Past

    Mio nonno ha costruito questa casa da solo.

    My grandfather built this house by himself.

  3. Imperfect

    Da bambini costruivamo capanne nel bosco.

    As kids we built huts in the woods.

  4. Future

    Costruiranno un parcheggio dietro la scuola.

    They'll build a car park behind the school.

  5. Conditional

    Costruirei una casa in campagna, un giorno.

    I'd build a house in the countryside, one day.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Non voglio che costruiscano qui, c'è il parco.

    I don't want them to build here, there's the park.

  7. Imperative

    Costruisci la torre più alta che puoi!

    Build the tallest tower you can!

Good to know

  • Costruire is for houses, roads and bridges; to put a piece of furniture together is montare.

Where you hear costruire

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Italian · Intermediate Level 1

  • Costruiamo una casa nuova. We're building a new house.
  • Mio padre ha costruito l'albergo. My father built the hotel.
  • L'anno prossimo costruirò un forno. Next year I'll build an oven.
14
Hilde Remembers the Hotel

Intermediate Level 1 · Sì. Mio padre l'ha costruito nel cinquanta.

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ire verb.