The Imperfect Tense of Construir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Construía una casa nueva el año pasado. (I was building a new house last year.)

Construir is a regular -ir verb, so its Imperfect conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Construir (to build) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of construir is used to describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past.

Building or constructing something in progress: For example, Construía una casa nueva para mi familia. (I was building a new house for my family.)

Habitual or repeated action in the past: For example, Cuando era joven, construía castillos de arena en la playa. (When I was young, I used to build sandcastles on the beach.)

Describing a past situation or setting: For example, En aquel entonces, construían un nuevo puente sobre el río. (Back then, they were building a new bridge over the river.)

Expressing an ongoing or unfinished action in the past: For example, Ayer, los obreros construían un edificio de oficinas. (Yesterday, the workers were building an office building.)

Idiomatic or figurative usage: For example, Construía su futuro con esfuerzo y dedicación. (He/She was building his/her future with effort and dedication.)

Examples

Examples of Construir in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, construía castillos de arena en la playa. (When I was a child, I used to build sand castles on the beach.)

Mi abuelo construía muebles de madera en su taller. (My grandfather used to build wooden furniture in his workshop.)

La empresa construía casas ecológicas con materiales reciclados. (The company used to build eco-friendly houses with recycled materials.)

Vosotros construíais una cabaña en el bosque durante las vacaciones. (You all used to build a cabin in the woods during the holidays.)

Ellos construían puentes para unir las comunidades aisladas. (They used to build bridges to connect isolated communities.)

Nosotros construíamos castillos de arena en la playa cuando éramos niños. (We used to build sand castles on the beach when we were kids.)

Tú construías maquetas de aviones en tu tiempo libre. (You used to build model airplanes in your free time.)

Ella construía casas de muñecas para sus hijas. (She used to build dollhouses for her daughters.)

Ustedes construían una cabaña en el bosque durante las vacaciones. (You all used to build a cabin in the woods during the holidays.)

Yo construía barcos de papel cuando era pequeño. (I used to build paper boats when I was little.)

Vosotros construíais un fuerte en el patio trasero. (You all used to build a fort in the backyard.)

Ellas construían casitas para pájaros en el jardín. (They used to build birdhouses in the garden.)

La familia construía un árbol genealógico para conocer sus raíces. (The family used to build a family tree to learn about their roots.)

Nosotros construíamos una ciudad de cartón en la sala de estar. (We used to build a cardboard city in the living room.)

Tú construías robots con piezas de Lego. (You used to build robots with Lego pieces.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Construir (to build) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

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

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.