Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like vivir, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).
Vivir (bvee-bveer) (to live) is a regular -ir verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:
Conjugation | Translation |
---|---|
yo vivo | I live |
tú vives | You (informal) live |
él/ella/ello/uno vive | He/she/one lives |
usted vive | You (formal) live |
nosotros vivimos | We live |
vosotros vivís | You all (informal) live |
ellos/ellas viven | They live |
ustedes viven | You all (formal) live |
The following examples show you vivir in action:
¿En qué ciudad vives? (What city do you live in?)
Vivo en la ciudad de Bogotá, Colombia. (I live in the city of Bogotá, Colombia.)
Need to know how to conjugate vivir in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms.
Conjugation | Translation |
---|---|
yo viví | I lived |
tú viviste | You (informal) lived |
él/ella/ello/uno vivió | He/she/one lived |
usted vivió | You (formal) lived |
nosotros vivimos | We lived |
vosotros vivisteis | You all (informal) lived |
ellos/ellas vivieron | They lived |
ustedes vivieron | You all (formal) lived |
You use the preterit tense like this:
¿Vivieron tus padres por muchos años? (Did your parents live for many years?)
Sí. Ellos vivieron por mucho tiempo. (Yes. They lived for many years.)
Conjugation | Translation |
---|---|
yo vivía | I used to live |
tú vivías | You (informal) used to live |
él/ella/ello/uno viviá | He/she/one used to live |
usted vivía | You (formal) used to live |
nosotros vivíamos | We used to live |
vosotros vivíais | You all (informal) used to live |
ellos/ellas vivían | They used to live |
ustedes vivían | You all (formal) used to live |
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:
¿Dónde vivían ustedes? (Where did you use to live?)
Vivíamos en una casa pequeña. (We used to live in a small house.)
Conjugation | Translation |
---|---|
yo viviré | I will live |
tú vivirás | You (informal) will live |
él/ella/ello/uno vivirá | He/she/one will live |
usted vivirá | You (formal) will live |
nosotros viviremos | We will live |
vosotros viviréis | You all (informal) will live |
ellos/ellas vivirán | They will live |
ustedes vivirán | You all (formal) will live |
The following samples put the future tense to work:
Viviremos con o sin dinero. (We will live with or without money.)
María vivirá junto a sus padres. (Mary will live close to her parents.)