How to Use the French Verb Vivre (to Live)

The French verb vivre (pronounced "veev-ruh") is a highly irregular -re verb with a conjugation that doesn't follow any pattern. Translated, it means "to live" and is one of the most common in the language. Other irregular -re verbs include: absoudre, boire, clore, conclure, conduire, confire, connaître, coudre, croire, dire, écrire, faire, inscrire, lire, moudre, naître, plaire, rire, and suivre. 

Because these words do not follow the regular rules of conjugation, you'll have to memorize each one individually, something many students find challenging at first. One exception are the verbs that end in -vivre, such as revivre and survivre are conjugated the same as vivre.

Usage and Expressions

• Vivre vieux: to live to a ripe old age
• Avoir vécu: to have had one's day
• Vivre avec quelqu'un: to live / reside with someone
• Être facile à vivre: to be easygoing / to be easy to live with or get along with
• Vivre aux crochets de quelqu'un: to sponge off someone
• Vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche: to live on love alone
• Vivre des temps difficiles: to live through / experience difficult times
• Elle a vécu jusqu'à 95 ans. She lived to 95.
• Il ne lui reste plus longtemps à vivre. He hasn't got much time left to live.
• On ne vit plus. This isn't a life. / This isn't what you call living.
• Ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants. And they lived happily ever after.
• Elle a mal vécu mon départ. She couldn't cope well after I left.
• Il faut vivre l'instant présent. We should live for the moment.

Present Indicative

Je	vis	Je vis toute seule.	I live alone.
Tu	vis	Tu vis avec ta soeur.	You live with your sister.
Il/Elle/On	vit	Elle vit avec ses deux chiens.	She lives with her two dogs.
Nous	vivons	Nous vivons à Paris.	We live in Paris.
Vous	vivez	Est-ce que vous vivez en Allemagne maintenant?	Do you live in Germany now?
Ils/Elles	vivent	Elles vivent ensemble.	They live together.

Compound Past Indicative

The passé composé is a past tense that can be translated as the simple past or the present perfect. For the verb vivre, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle vécu​.

J’	ai vécu	L'année que j'ai vécu en Angleterre était très belle.	I had a very good year in England.
Tu	as vécu	Tu as vécu avec elle pendant dix ans.	You lived with her for ten years.
Il/Elle/On	a vécu	Il y a vécu pendant trois ans.	He lived there for three years.
Nous	avons vécu	Nous avons vécu pas mal de choses ensemble.	We experienced/lived through quite a lot together.
Vous	avez vécu	Vous avez vécu de choses terribles.	You lived through horrible things.
Ils/Elles	ont vécu	Ils ont vécu heureux ensemble.	They lived happily together.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense is another form of the past tense, but it is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. L'imparfait can be translated to English as "was living" or "used to live," although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple "lived," depending on the context.

Je	vivais	Je vivais ici l'année derniere.	I lived here last year.
Tu	vivais	Tu vivais ici, papa?	You used to live here, dad?
Il/Elle/On	vivait	Elle vivait à Versailles au temps de Louis XIV.	She lived in Versailles during the time of Louis XIV.
Nous	vivions	Nous vivions ensemble depuis neuf ans.	We lived together for nine years.
Vous	viviez	Vous viviez à la campagne, n'est-ce pas?	You used to live in the country, didn't you?
Ils/Elles	vivaient	Ells vivaient d'espoir.	They lived off hope.

Simple Future Indicative

To talk about the future in English, in most cases we simply add the modal verb "will." In French, however, the future tense is formed by adding different endings to the infinitive.  

Je	vivrai	Je ne vivrai pas sans toi.	I won't live without you.
Tu	vivras	Tu vivras toujours dans mon coeur.	You will always live in my heart.
Il/Elle/On	vivra	Il vivra pour toi.	He will live for you.
Nous	vivrons	Nous vivrons d'amour.	We will live off love.
Vous	vivrez	Vous vivrez vieux.	You will live long.
Ils/Elles	vivront	Elles vivront mieux sans nous.	They will have a better life without us.

Near Future Indicative

Another form of a future tense is the near future, the futur proche, which is the equivalent of the English "going to + verb." In French, the near future is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) + the infinitive (vivre).

Je	vais vivre	Je vais vivre pour le meilleur.	I am going to live for the better.
Tu	vas vivre	Jusqu'à quel âge vas-tu vivre?	How long are you going to live?
Il/Elle/On	va vivre	Elle va vivre avec sa copine.	She is going to live with her girlfriend.
Nous	allons vivre	Nous allons vivre une grande histoire d'amour.	We are going to have a great love story.
Vous	allez vivre	Vous allez vivre un week-end inoubliable.	You are going to have an unforgettable weekend.
Ils/Elles	vont vivre	Elles vont vivre à Londres l'année prochaine.	They are going to live in London next year.

Conditional

The conditional mood in French is equivalent to the English "would + verb." Notice that the endings it adds to the infinitive are very similar to those of the imperfect indicative.

Je	vivrais	Je vivrais ma vie avec toi.	I would live my life with you.
Tu	vivrais	Tu vivrais dans un chalet si tu pouvais.	You would live in a cottage if you could.
Il/Elle/On	vivrait	Il vivrait le reste de sa vie en peine.	He would live the rest of his life in pain.
Nous	vivrions	Sans internet, nous vivrions toujours dans les années 90.	Without the internet, we would still live in the 90s.
Vous	vivriez	Vous vivriez dans cette chambre et moi dans celle-là.	You would live in this room and I in that one.
Ils/Elles	vivraient	Elles vivraient dans un motel pour éviter le gouvernement.	They would live in a motel to avoid the government.

Present Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood conjugation of vivre, which comes in after the expression que + person, looks very much like the present indicative and past imperfect.

Que je	vive	Comment voulez-vous que je vive?	How do you want me to live?
Que tu	vives	Elle désire que tu vives long.	She hopes you live long.
Qu'il/elle/on	vive	Je ne suis pas sur s'il vive encore.	I'm not sure if he's still alive.
Que nous	vivions	Il faut que nous vivions mieux.	We need to live better.
Que vous	viviez	Je ferais tout pour que vous viviez.	I would do everything for you to live.
Qu'ils/elles	vivent	Il est temps qu'elles vivent pour elles-mêmes.	It's time for them to live their own lives.

Imperative

The imperative mood is used to give commands, both positive and negative. They have the same verb form, but the negative commands include ne...pas, ne...plus, or ne...jamais around the verb.

Positive Commands

Tu	vis!	Vis ta propre vie!	Live your own life!
Nous	vivons!	Vivons ensemble!	Let's live together!
Vous	vivez!	Vivez la vie pleinement!	Live life fully!

Negative Commands

Tu	ne vis pas!	Ne vis pas sans moi!	Don't live without me!
Nous	ne vivons pas!	Ne vivons plus ici!	Lets's not live here anymore!
Vous	ne vivez pas!	Ne vivez pas seul!	Don't live alone!

Present Participle/Gerund

One of the uses of the present participle is to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en). The gerund can be used to talk about simultaneous actions.

Present Participle/Gerund of Vivre: vivant

Il est un danseur anglais vivant aux Etats Unis. -> He is an English dancer who lives in the United States.