Conjugation of viure | Catalan Grammar

Viure means “to live,” both in the sense of being alive and of residing somewhere. It can also mean “subsist on,” “experience,” or “lead a certain life”: viure de la música, viure una crisi, viure tranquil. Its high-frequency forms alternate among vi-, viv-, visc-/visqu-, and viur-, so it is best learned through a compact set of principal parts.

Those parts are visc – vivia – visquí – viuré – visqui – visqués – viscut. Present viu is potentially ambiguous: it can be the third-person verb “lives,” the masculine adjective “alive,” or the second-person imperative “live!” Context and syntax, not spelling, resolve the ambiguity.

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Link visc with visqui, visqués, viscut; link vivim with vivia, vivint; and learn viuré as the future stem. Three small families are easier to retain than dozens of isolated forms.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	viure	to live
Perfect infinitive	haver viscut	to have lived
Gerund	vivint	living
Perfect gerund	havent viscut	having lived
Participle	viscut; viscuda, viscuts, viscudes	lived / experienced

The gerund is vivint, not visquent. The compound tenses use haver + viscut with an invariable participle: elles han viscut aquí. Agreeing forms occur adjectivally or passively, especially in expressions such as una experiència viscuda en primera persona.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	visc	vius	viu	vivim	viviu	viuen
Imperfect	vivia	vivies	vivia	vivíem	vivíeu	vivien
Periphrastic past	vaig viure	vas viure	va viure	vam viure	vau viure	van viure
Simple past	visquí	visqueres	visqué	visquérem	visquéreu	visqueren
Future	viuré	viuràs	viurà	viurem	viureu	viuran
Conditional	viuria	viuries	viuria	viuríem	viuríeu	viurien

For an ongoing residence that includes the present, Catalan normally uses the present: visc aquí des del 2020. English uses a perfect form (“I have lived”), so a literal tense transfer is a common mistake; see the wider duration system. The periphrastic past presents a bounded residence or life experience as a whole, while the imperfect supplies background. The simple past is (formal/literary) in much Central usage and remains spoken regionally.

Visc a Mataró des de fa sis anys, però treballo a Barcelona.

I have lived in Mataró for six years, but I work in Barcelona.

Quan vivíem al mas, ens llevàvem abans que sortís el sol.

When we lived at the farmhouse, we got up before sunrise.

Vam viure dos hiverns a Reykjavík i vam aprendre a aprofitar cada hora de llum.

We lived through two winters in Reykjavík and learned to make the most of every hour of daylight.

D'aquí a uns anys viuran més a prop dels nets.

A few years from now they will live closer to their grandchildren.

Compound tenses

Indicative tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present perfect	he viscut	has viscut	ha viscut	hem viscut	heu viscut	han viscut
Pluperfect	havia viscut	havies viscut	havia viscut	havíem viscut	havíeu viscut	havien viscut
Past anterior	haguí viscut	hagueres viscut	hagué viscut	haguérem viscut	haguéreu viscut	hagueren viscut
Future perfect	hauré viscut	hauràs viscut	haurà viscut	haurem viscut	haureu viscut	hauran viscut
Conditional perfect	hauria viscut	hauries viscut	hauria viscut	hauríem viscut	hauríeu viscut	haurien viscut

The past anterior is (formal/literary). Its periphrastic counterpart is vaig haver viscut, vas haver viscut, va haver viscut, vam haver viscut, vau haver viscut, van haver viscut. Neither replaces the ordinary present for an uninterrupted situation continuing now.

He viscut aquesta reorganització des de dins i sé per què ha costat tant.

I have experienced this reorganization from the inside and know why it has been so difficult.

Quan es jubili, haurà viscut més de mitja vida fora del seu país.

When she retires, she will have lived more than half her life outside her country.

Subjunctive and imperative

Subjunctive tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	visqui	visquis	visqui	visquem	visqueu	visquin
Imperfect	visqués	visquessis	visqués	visquéssim	visquéssiu	visquessin
Present perfect	hagi viscut	hagis viscut	hagi viscut	hàgim viscut	hàgiu viscut	hagin viscut
Pluperfect	hagués viscut	haguessis viscut	hagués viscut	haguéssim viscut	haguéssiu viscut	haguessin viscut

Restricted periphrastic series	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Subjunctive past	vagi viure	vagis viure	vagi viure	vàgim viure	vàgiu viure	vagin viure
Subjunctive past anterior	vagi haver viscut	vagis haver viscut	vagi haver viscut	vàgim haver viscut	vàgiu haver viscut	vagin haver viscut

These periphrastic subjunctive rows are (regional/formal). In ordinary Central usage, visqués and hagués viscut are generally the relevant past forms.

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	viu	no visquis
vostè	visqui	no visqui
nosaltres	visquem	no visquem
vosaltres	viviu	no visqueu
vostès	visquin	no visquin

—Encara vius amb dos companys de pis? —Sí, i espero que visquem junts fins que acabi el màster.

—Do you still live with two roommates? —Yes, and I hope we live together until the master's program ends.

The fossilized acclamation visca! “long live!” derives historically from a subjunctive form and remains fully current: Visca la música!; Visquin els nuvis! Its plural agreement is visible even though the singular is not the ordinary Central form visqui.

Complements, clitics, and regional standards

Residence takes a with a city or other point (viure a Lleida) and commonly en with broader or differently framed locations (viure en un entorn rural). A previously mentioned location is replaced by hi: Hi visc des de fa poc. Cohabitation uses amb, while source of subsistence uses de: viu amb la seva germana; viu de la traducció. The transitive use can present an experience as fully undergone: viure una aventura, viure moments difícils.

Viure itself is not normally cited as a pronominal verb. In Aquesta situació es viu com una derrota, es builds a pronominal passive: the situation is what is experienced, and the experiencer remains unexpressed. That construction does not make ordinary residence reflexive—say visc aquí, never em visc aquí. Characteristic collocations include viure al dia, viure de renda, viure en pau, guanyar-se la vida, deixar viure, and viure intensament.

The simple present is especially important in duration: Fa tres mesos que hi visc and Hi visc des del març. An English progressive may be possible when the speaker deliberately frames a temporary episode, but neutral residence does not need estar vivint.

(Regional: Valencian) standard present subjunctive is visca, visques, visca, visquem, visqueu, visquen, with imperfect visquera.... The ordinary indicative forms largely align with the general table. Other varieties preserve systematic local realizations; the Central forms above are the primary teaching baseline.

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For “I have lived here for three years” when the residence continues now, Catalan normally says Fa tres anys que visc aquí or Visc aquí des de fa tres anys: present, not perfect.

Common Mistakes

❌ He viscut a Tarragona des del 2019 i encara hi visc.

Incorrect for a single residence continuing now—Catalan normally uses the present with des de.

✅ Visc a Tarragona des del 2019.

I have lived in Tarragona since 2019.

❌ Els meus cosins viven a prop de l'estació.

Incorrect—the third-person plural is viuen, not the Spanish-shaped viven.

✅ Els meus cosins viuen a prop de l'estació.

My cousins live near the station.

❌ Tant de bo visqueixes molts anys amb bona salut.

Incorrect—viure is not incoative; use the velar subjunctive visquis.

✅ Tant de bo visquis molts anys amb bona salut.

May you live many years in good health.

❌ Han vivit una experiència molt intensa al desert.

Incorrect—the participle is viscut, not a regularized vivit.

✅ Han viscut una experiència molt intensa al desert.

They have had a very intense experience in the desert.

❌ Quan era estudiant, em vivia amb quatre persones més.

Incorrect—ordinary residence is nonpronominal.

✅ Quan era estudiant, vivia amb quatre persones més.

When I was a student, I lived with four other people.

Key Takeaways

Learn visc, vivia, visquí, viuré, visqui, and viscut as a stem family. Use the present for residence continuing into now, hi for a previously mentioned place, amb for cohabitants, and de for a means of subsistence. Do not regularize the gerund or participle, and do not make ordinary viure pronominal.

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