Destruir: Full Conjugation

Destruir means "to destroy" and follows the standard -uir pattern, inserting a y before vowel endings a, e, o in most present-tense forms. It conjugates exactly like construir ("to build"), influir ("to influence"), and contribuir ("to contribute").

The root shares obvious DNA with English destroy (both come from Latin destruere), and the noun form destrucción is equally transparent to English speakers. Learning destruir gives you a template for every -uir verb in the language.

Present Indicative

Every form except nosotros takes the y. The nosotros form keeps the plain i because -imos begins with a strong vowel and doesn't need a buffer consonant.

Preterite

The third-person forms take a y (destruyó, destruyeron) for the same phonetic reason — a weak i between two vowels becomes y.

Imperfect

Future

Conditional

Present Subjunctive

All six subjunctive forms contain y.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Imperative

Non-Finite Forms

• Infinitive: destruir
• Gerund: destruyendo
• Past participle: destruido

The gerund takes a y (destruyendo), not destruiendo — this is the same rule that governs the third-person preterite.

Common Uses

Destruir is a transitive verb and usually takes a direct object. It has both literal (destruir una casa) and figurative uses (destruir una relación, destruir la confianza). The past participle destruido is commonly used as an adjective: la ciudad quedó destruida.