The preterite of construir is used to express a completed action of building something in the past. For example, you might say “They built this house last year,” indicating a finished construction project.

This is a stem-changing verb that follows a special pattern in the preterite. The ‘i’ changes to ‘y’ in the third person singular and plural forms to maintain proper pronunciation.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Construir (to build) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of construir expresses completed actions of building or constructing in the past.

To build/construct: Physical construction, for example Construyeron el puente en seis meses (They built the bridge in six months).

To create/develop: Abstract creation, for example Construyó una carrera exitosa (She built a successful career).

Examples

Examples of Construir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Construí una casa en la playa. (I built a house on the beach.)

¿Construiste el modelo tú solo? (Did you build the model by yourself?)

La empresa construyó un nuevo edificio. (The company built a new building.)

Construimos un fuerte con almohadas. (We built a fort with pillows.)

Los obreros construyeron el puente en seis meses. (The workers built the bridge in six months.)

Construí mi propio negocio desde cero. (I built my own business from scratch.)

¿Dónde construiste la casa del perro? (Where did you build the dog house?)

El arquitecto construyó una obra maestra. (The architect built a masterpiece.)

Construimos una nueva vida en otro país. (We built a new life in another country.)

Los niños construyeron un castillo de arena. (The children built a sandcastle.)

Construí una biblioteca en el sótano. (I built a library in the basement.)

¿Cuándo construiste el jardín? (When did you build the garden?)

La ciudad construyó un nuevo parque. (The city built a new park.)

Construimos un equipo exitoso. (We built a successful team.)

Los voluntarios construyeron casas para los necesitados. (The volunteers built houses for those in need.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Construir (to build) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.