Živjeti ("to live") is the verb behind "Where do you live?", "I lived abroad", and the cheerful toast Živjeli! ("Cheers!"). It is a useful verb to learn early for two reasons: it is a regular i-class verb in the present (živim, živiš, živi…), and its l-participle (živio / živjela) is a textbook case of the ije/je alternation that runs through dozens of Croatian verbs and nouns. Master živjeti and you have a working model for vidjeti, htjeti, voljeti, and the whole -jeti family.
Aspect
Živjeti is imperfective, and emphatically so: living is a state that unfolds over time, never a finished event. For this reason it has no everyday perfective partner — you cannot "complete" living. When you want the inceptive idea "to come to life / to start living / to flourish", Croatian reaches for prefixed verbs such as oživjeti ("to come back to life, to revive") or proživjeti ("to live through, to spend [a period]"), but these are separate verbs with their own meanings, not a clean aspectual pair for "live" in general.
Cijeli život proživjela je u istom selu.
She lived her whole life through in the same village. — 'proživjeti' = to live through a span (perfective).
For the difference between an ongoing state and a bounded event, see Verbal Aspect: The Big Picture.
Present tense
Živjeti takes the i-class endings -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e. The stem is živ-; note that the je of the infinitive does not appear in the present — you say živim, not živjem.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ja | živim | I live |
| ti | živiš | you live |
| on/ona/ono | živi | he/she/it lives |
| mi | živimo | we live |
| vi | živite | you live |
| oni/one/ona | žive | they live |
Živim u Zagrebu već deset godina.
I've been living in Zagreb for ten years now.
Gdje živiš? — U Splitu, blizu rive.
Where do you live? — In Split, near the waterfront.
Moji roditelji žive na selu, mi živimo u gradu.
My parents live in the countryside, we live in the city.
The l-participle and the ije/je alternation
This is the heart of the page. In the infinitive živjeti you see -je-. In the past participle, the vowel length decides the spelling: the masculine singular shortens, so the je drops to a plain i — živio. Every other form keeps the je — živjela, živjelo, živjeli, živjele, živjela.
| Gender / number | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | živio |
| feminine singular | živjela |
| neuter singular | živjelo |
| masculine plural | živjeli |
| feminine plural | živjele |
| neuter plural | živjela |
The pattern živio (m.sg.) ~ živjela (f.sg.) is exactly the same alternation you get in vidio / vidjela ("saw"), htio / htjela ("wanted"), and volio / voljela ("loved"). It is regular: short i in the masculine singular, je everywhere else. For the participle's role in tense-building, see The l-Participle.
Perfect tense (perfekt)
Clitic biti + l-participle. Word order: the clitic sam/si/je/smo/ste/su is the second element of the clause.
| Person | Masculine subject | Feminine subject |
|---|---|---|
| ja | živio sam | živjela sam |
| ti | živio si | živjela si |
| on / ona | živio je | živjela je |
| mi | živjeli smo | živjele smo |
| vi | živjeli ste | živjele ste |
| oni / one | živjeli su | živjele su |
Prije rata živjeli smo u Vukovaru.
Before the war we lived in Vukovar.
Godinu dana živjela sam u Irskoj i radila kao konobarica.
For a year I lived in Ireland and worked as a waitress. — feminine speaker: 'živjela'.
Future I (futur prvi)
The infinitive živjeti ends in -ti, so before the future clitic it drops the final -i: živjet ću (written without the -i). The je stays.
| Person | Infinitive first | Clitic first |
|---|---|---|
| ja | živjet ću | … ću živjeti |
| ti | živjet ćeš | … ćeš živjeti |
| on/ona/ono | živjet će | … će živjeti |
| mi | živjet ćemo | … ćemo živjeti |
| vi | živjet ćete | … ćete živjeti |
| oni/one/ona | živjet će | … će živjeti |
Kad odem u mirovinu, živjet ću na obali.
When I retire, I'll live on the coast.
Imperative
i-class imperative: -i, -imo, -ite.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ti | živi | live! |
| mi | živimo | let's live |
| vi | živite | live! (pl./formal) |
The imperative is the source of the famous toast. The frozen exclamation Živio! (m.) / Živjela! (f.) / Živjeli! (pl.) literally means "may he/she/they live!" and is used as "Cheers!", "Hooray!", or "Long live…!".
Živi život punim plućima!
Live life to the fullest! — literally 'with full lungs'.
Živjeli! Za zdravlje i sreću!
Cheers! To health and happiness! — the toast (to a group).
Conditional I (kondicional prvi)
bih-clitics + l-participle, used for hypotheticals and wishes ("I would live…").
| Person | Form (masc.) |
|---|---|
| ja | živio bih |
| ti | živio bi |
| on/ona/ono | živio/živjela/živjelo bi |
| mi | živjeli bismo |
| vi | živjeli biste |
| oni/one/ona | živjeli bi |
Najradije bih živio negdje uz more.
I'd most like to live somewhere by the sea.
Other forms
- Passive participle: živjeti is intransitive in its core meaning, so it has no productive passive participle. The related adjective življen surfaces only in fixed collocations such as proživljen život ("a life lived through"), built from the prefixed proživjeti.
- Present verbal adverb: živeći ("[while] living"), used in writing for backgrounded simultaneous action.
Živeći u inozemstvu, naučila je cijeniti dom.
Living abroad, she learned to appreciate home. — verbal adverb 'živeći'.
Key uses and government
1. "to live / reside" — živjeti u / na + locative
To say where you live, use a static-location phrase in the locative: u + locative for a town or country, na + locative for islands, streets, and certain words (na otoku, na selu, na adresi). Because living is a state, not a movement, the location is always locative, never accusative.
Živimo u maloj zgradi na petom katu.
We live in a small building on the fifth floor. — 'u' + locative.
Baka i djed žive na otoku Hvaru.
Grandma and grandpa live on the island of Hvar. — 'na' + locative for islands.
For the case mechanics, see Locative for Static Location.
2. "to live with someone" — živjeti s(a) + instrumental
Accompaniment ("with whom") takes s / sa + the instrumental.
Još uvijek živim s roditeljima, štedim za stan.
I still live with my parents, I'm saving for a flat. — 's' + instrumental.
Živi sa svojom djevojkom već dvije godine.
He's been living with his girlfriend for two years now.
See Instrumental: Means and Accompaniment.
3. "to live (be alive) / to live a certain way" — živjeti od / kao
Živjeti od + genitive means "to live on / off" (a source of income); živjeti kao + nominative means "to live like".
Teško je živjeti od umjetnosti.
It's hard to make a living from art. — 'živjeti od' + genitive.
Otkad je dobio posao, živi kao kralj.
Since he got the job, he's been living like a king.
Common Mistakes
❌ Oni živiju u Osijeku.
Incorrect — the i-class 3pl is the bare -e: 'žive', not '*živiju'.
✅ Oni žive u Osijeku.
They live in Osijek.
❌ Živim u Zagreb.
Incorrect — residence is a static state, so it takes the locative, not the accusative: 'u Zagrebu'.
✅ Živim u Zagrebu.
I live in Zagreb.
❌ Ona je živio u Beču.
Agreement error — the l-participle must match a feminine subject: 'živjela', not 'živio'.
✅ Ona je živjela u Beču.
She lived in Vienna.
❌ Živeo sam u Berlinu.
Spelling — the masculine singular is 'živio' (Croatian ije/je), not the ekavian '*živeo'.
✅ Živio sam u Berlinu.
I lived in Berlin. — masculine speaker.
❌ Živim sa moje sestre.
Wrong case — 'with' takes the instrumental, not the genitive: 'sa svojom sestrom' / 's mojom sestrom'.
✅ Živim sa sestrom.
I live with my sister.
Key Takeaways
- Živjeti is imperfective with no everyday perfective pair; living is a state.
- Present is regular i-class: živim, živiš, živi, živimo, živite, *žive* (bare -e in the 3pl).
- The l-participle shows the ije/je alternation: masculine živio, everything else živjela / živjeli… — the same pattern as vidio/vidjela, htio/htjela.
- Government: where → u/na
- locative; with whom → s
- instrumental; income → od
- genitive.
- instrumental; income → od
- locative; with whom → s
- Živio! / Živjela! / Živjeli! is the everyday toast ("Cheers! / Long live!").
Now practice Croatian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Present Tense: -i- VerbsA1 — The -im conjugation for many -iti and -jeti verbs.
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Why nearly every verb comes in an imperfective/perfective pair.
- Locative for Static LocationA2 — Where something IS — the rest/position sense of u and na.
- Instrumental: Means and AccompanimentA2 — The 'by means of' and 'with someone' functions.
- The l-Participle (radni glagolski pridjev)A1 — The past active participle that builds the perfect and conditional.
- raditi (to work/do)A1 — Model i-class verb 'to work/do'.