construction

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The work of building houses, roads, bridges and other structures, or the industry that does this work.

   Grammar: Often used without an article: construction began in May; also used before a noun, as in a construction worker.

   Patterns

   • under construction
   • the construction of something

   Construction of the new bridge will take three years.

   She works in construction and spends most days on building sites.

   The road is closed because of construction.

2. 2nouncountable

   A building or other structure that has been put together, or the way it has been put together.

   Grammar: Countable when it names a thing built: a wooden construction; a solid construction.

   Patterns

   • a construction of something
   • of sturdy construction

   The shed was a flimsy construction of old planks.

   The toy's plastic construction makes it light but strong.

   Visitors admired the stone construction of the old mill.

3. 3nouncountabletechnical

   In grammar, a pattern in which words are put together to form a phrase or sentence.

   Grammar: A countable grammar word: the passive construction, two different constructions.

   Patterns

   • a passive construction
   • a construction with something

   The teacher compared the two constructions and explained when each is used.

   Learners often find the conditional construction difficult.

   Avoid the awkward construction in the second sentence.

4. 4nounusually singularformal

   The way a person understands or interprets something said or done, often in the phrase put a construction on something.

   Grammar: Appears in the pattern put a good or bad construction on something.

   Patterns

   • put a construction on something

   She put a generous construction on his late arrival and assumed the traffic was bad.

   Reporters put a very different construction on the minister's words.

Word forms

Common combinations

under construction

The new stadium is still under construction.

construction site

Children must stay away from the construction site.

construction worker

A construction worker waved the cars through.

construction industry

The construction industry hired thousands of workers last year.

passive construction

The sentence 'The window was broken' is a passive construction.

Synonyms and how they differ

building

Building is the plainer everyday word and can mean the act or the finished structure, while construction sounds more technical and large-scale.

erection

Erection suits tall or standing structures such as towers and tents and is more formal than construction.

structure

Structure names the finished thing, whereas construction can also mean the process of making it.

Opposites

Word family

construct verb

to build or put together

constructor noun

a person or company that builds things

constructive adjective

helpful and aiming to improve

reconstruction noun

the act of building something again

constructional adjective

relating to building or its methods

Commonly confused: construction or constriction?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “construction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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