Vivre is the verb to live — both in the literal biological sense (il a vécu jusqu'à 95 ans — he lived until 95) and in the everyday sense of residing somewhere (je vis à Paris — I live in Paris). It is one of those high-frequency irregulars whose paradigms hide a famous surprise: the passé simple and past participle are built on a completely different stem, vécu-, with a c and an accented é that appear nowhere in the present-tense forms. Learners who master vis, vis, vit, vivons, vivez, vivent are still ambushed when they need to say "he lived" — il vécut, not il vivit.
The conjugation pattern is otherwise a clean two-stem alternation in the present: vi- in the singular (je vis, tu vis, il vit), viv- in the plural (nous vivons, vous vivez, ils vivent). The futur stem vivr- is regular (infinitive minus -e); the subjunctive uses the same viv- stem throughout. But the moment you cross into the literary tenses — passé simple, the -u- stem participles — you switch to the foreign-looking véc-/vécu- root, a Latin survival from vixi/vixisse.
This page is the verb-reference entry: every paradigm, every compound tense, the major uses with examples, and the idioms. Use it as a lookup. The detail pages cover individual topics in depth.
The simple tenses
These are the tenses formed without an auxiliary — the basic conjugational paradigms. Vivre features two completely different stems: vi-/viv- in the present, imparfait, futur, conditional, subjunctive, and imperative; véc-/vécu- in the passé simple and the participles.
Présent de l'indicatif
The present indicative. Two-stem alternation: vi- in the singular, viv- in the plural. The pattern parallels other -vre and -vrir verbs, but vivre is unique in adding the véc- stem elsewhere.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | vis | /vi/ |
| tu | vis | /vi/ |
| il / elle / on | vit | /vi/ |
| nous | vivons | /vivɔ̃/ |
| vous | vivez | /vive/ |
| ils / elles | vivent | /viv/ |
The three singular forms are pronounced identically /vi/ — the final -s and -t are silent. The plural forms reintroduce the v with /v/, audible in vivons, vivez, vivent.
A homophone trap to watch for: je vis (I live) and je vis (I saw — passé simple of voir) are spelled and pronounced exactly the same. Context resolves which verb is meant. The trap appears mostly in literary writing where the passé simple of voir is in active use.
Je vis à Lyon depuis cinq ans.
I've been living in Lyon for five years.
On vit dans un petit appartement près du parc.
We live in a small apartment near the park.
Les gens vivent de plus en plus longtemps.
People are living longer and longer.
Imparfait
Built on the stem viv- (from nous vivons) plus the regular imparfait endings. Predictable from the nous form.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vivais |
| tu | vivais |
| il / elle / on | vivait |
| nous | vivions |
| vous | viviez |
| ils / elles | vivaient |
Quand j'étais étudiant, je vivais avec trois colocataires.
When I was a student, I used to live with three roommates.
Mes grands-parents vivaient à la campagne, dans une vieille ferme.
My grandparents lived in the countryside, in an old farmhouse.
Passé simple (literary)
Here is the surprise. The passé simple drops the vi-/viv- stem entirely and uses véc-, the Latin-derived alternate root. The endings follow the -u- pattern of irregular verbs (je connus, je voulus, je dus).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vécus |
| tu | vécus |
| il / elle / on | vécut |
| nous | vécûmes |
| vous | vécûtes |
| ils / elles | vécurent |
The accented é and the consonant change v → c are not predictable from the present-tense paradigm. The pattern survives directly from Latin vixi (perfect of vivere). The circumflex on vécûmes and vécûtes is obligatory and historically marks a lost -s-. Used almost exclusively in literary writing and historical narration; the spoken language uses the passé composé (il a vécu) for the same meaning.
Il vécut le reste de ses jours dans une petite maison près de la mer.
He lived out the rest of his days in a little house by the sea. (literary)
Ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants.
They lived happily and had many children. (the classic French fairy-tale ending)
Futur simple
Stem vivr- — derived directly from the infinitive (with the e of -re dropping out before the futur endings). Endings are the regular futur endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vivrai |
| tu | vivras |
| il / elle / on | vivra |
| nous | vivrons |
| vous | vivrez |
| ils / elles | vivront |
On vivra plus simplement après la retraite.
We'll live more simply after retirement.
Je suis sûr que tu vivras une expérience inoubliable au Japon.
I'm sure you'll have an unforgettable experience in Japan.
Conditionnel présent
Same vivr- stem as the futur, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vivrais |
| tu | vivrais |
| il / elle / on | vivrait |
| nous | vivrions |
| vous | vivriez |
| ils / elles | vivraient |
Je vivrais bien à la montagne, mais ma femme préfère la ville.
I'd happily live in the mountains, but my wife prefers the city.
Sans toi, je ne vivrais pas la même vie.
Without you, I wouldn't be living the same life.
Subjonctif présent
Built on the viv- stem throughout, with the regular subjunctive endings. No alternation — the subjunctive of vivre is one of its most predictable paradigms.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | vive |
| (que) tu | vives |
| (qu')il / elle / on | vive |
| (que) nous | vivions |
| (que) vous | viviez |
| (qu')ils / elles | vivent |
Note that vivions and viviez are spelled identically to the imparfait — context disambiguates.
The 3sg subjunctive vive is famously preserved in fixed exclamatory cries: Vive la France !, Vive la République !, Vive les mariés ! This is a frozen optative subjunctive — historically "May France live!" — that has fossilized into a cheer. In contemporary French, the form is sometimes treated as invariable (vive les vacances !) and sometimes pluralized (vivent les vacances !); both spellings are accepted, with vive (invariable) more common in everyday usage and vivent (agreeing) preferred in careful writing.
Il faut qu'on vive le moment présent.
We have to live in the present moment.
Je veux que mes enfants vivent dans un monde plus juste.
I want my children to live in a fairer world.
Vive la France !
Long live France!
Impératif
Three forms, derived from the indicative present (with the tu form keeping the -s — a feature of -re and -ir imperatives).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | vis |
| (nous) | vivons |
| (vous) | vivez |
The imperative of vivre is rare in everyday speech (telling someone to "live" is unusual), but appears in motivational sayings (Vis ta vie ! — Live your life!) and in the carpe-diem register.
Vis pleinement, sans regret.
Live fully, without regret.
Vivons l'instant !
Let's live in the moment!
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: vécu (with feminine vécue, masculine plural vécus, feminine plural vécues) — built on the véc- stem like the passé simple
- Participe présent: vivant (also a noun: un vivant — a living being)
- Gérondif: en vivant
En vivant à l'étranger, on apprend beaucoup sur soi-même.
By living abroad, you learn a lot about yourself.
Les années que nous avons vécues ensemble ont été les plus belles.
The years we lived together were the most beautiful.
The participle vécu is unusual in French because it can also function as a noun: le vécu means "lived experience" — a near-untranslatable term used in psychology and everyday philosophical talk (raconte-moi ton vécu — tell me about your experience).
The compound tenses
Vivre uses avoir as its auxiliary in compound tenses — even though it expresses a state of existence, it is not a verb of motion or a pronominal, so it does not take être. This sometimes surprises learners who reason from the meaning ("to live = to exist = être?"), but the auxiliary choice in French is grammatical, not semantic.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + vécu
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | ai vécu | I lived / I've lived |
| tu | as vécu | you lived |
| il / elle / on | a vécu | he/she/we lived |
| nous | avons vécu | we lived |
| vous | avez vécu | you lived |
| ils / elles | ont vécu | they lived |
J'ai vécu deux ans à Berlin avant de revenir en France.
I lived two years in Berlin before coming back to France.
On a vécu des moments incroyables ensemble.
We've lived through some incredible moments together.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + vécu
Avant cette épreuve, il n'avait jamais vraiment vécu.
Before that ordeal, he'd never really lived.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + vécu
À cinquante ans, on aura vécu la moitié de sa vie.
At fifty, you'll have lived half your life.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + vécu
Sans cette rencontre, je n'aurais pas vécu cette aventure.
Without that encounter, I wouldn't have lived through this adventure.
Subjonctif passé
avoir (subjonctif) + vécu
Je suis content qu'elle ait vécu pour voir ses petits-enfants.
I'm glad she lived to see her grandchildren.
The four core uses
1. Live (be alive): biological existence
The most fundamental sense — to be alive, to draw breath. Used for the duration of life and for the act of having lived.
Mon arrière-grand-mère a vécu jusqu'à cent deux ans.
My great-grandmother lived to a hundred and two.
Tant qu'on vit, il y a de l'espoir.
As long as we live, there is hope.
2. Live (reside): live in a place
The most common everyday use. Vivre and habiter both mean "to live" in the sense of residing somewhere, but they are not perfectly interchangeable. Habiter is more concretely about the dwelling (j'habite Paris / j'habite à Paris); vivre is about the lived experience and lifestyle (je vis à Paris). Native speakers feel the distinction but use both freely.
Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans, mais je suis originaire de Bordeaux.
I've lived in Paris for ten years, but I'm originally from Bordeaux.
Mes parents vivent à la campagne maintenant qu'ils sont à la retraite.
My parents live in the countryside now that they're retired.
The preposition is normally à before a city (vivre à Paris) and en/au/aux before a country (vivre en France, au Japon, aux États-Unis). With regions, use en for feminine regions (vivre en Bretagne) and dans le for masculine ones (vivre dans le Périgord).
3. Live on / live from: vivre de qqch
The construction vivre de expresses the source of one's livelihood — what you live on, what sustains you.
Il vit de sa peinture depuis qu'il a quitté son emploi.
He's been living off his painting since he quit his job.
On ne vit pas que de pain.
Man does not live by bread alone. (proverb)
Elle vit de petits boulots en attendant de trouver un poste fixe.
She's living off odd jobs while waiting to find a permanent position.
4. Experience / live through: vivre une expérience
A high-frequency idiomatic use: vivre + abstract noun expresses the experience of going through something. Where English uses "experience," French often uses vivre.
On a vécu une période difficile l'année dernière.
We went through a difficult period last year.
Tu vas vivre une expérience extraordinaire en Asie.
You're going to have an extraordinary experience in Asia.
Elle vit mal le divorce de ses parents.
She's taking her parents' divorce hard.
The construction vivre mal/bien quelque chose — to take something hard/well — is purely idiomatic and does not transfer literally from English.
High-frequency vivre idioms
- vivre sa vie — to live one's life (often: "to do one's own thing")
- vivre au jour le jour — to live day by day
- vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche — to live on love and fresh water (i.e., on very little)
- qui vivra verra — time will tell (literally: "who will live will see")
- vivre dans le passé — to live in the past
- vivre sous le même toit — to live under the same roof
- vivre en couple / en concubinage — to live as a couple / cohabit
- avoir vécu — to have been around the block (idiomatic: un homme qui a vécu = a man with experience)
- être bien vivant / vivante — to be alive and well
Laisse-le tranquille, il vit sa vie.
Leave him alone, he's living his life.
On verra bien — qui vivra verra.
We'll see — time will tell.
Ils vivent ensemble depuis trois ans, sans être mariés.
They've been living together for three years, without being married.
The compounds: survivre, revivre
Vivre is the base for two important derived verbs that share its conjugation pattern almost exactly.
| Verb | Meaning | 1sg present | 3pl present | Past participle | Auxiliary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vivre | to live | je vis | ils vivent | vécu | avoir |
| survivre | to survive | je survis | ils survivent | survécu | avoir |
| revivre | to relive / come back to life | je revis | ils revivent | revécu | avoir |
Survivre takes the indirect-object construction survivre à quelqu'un / quelque chose — to survive someone or something. Note the à: you survive to a person, not "survive a person."
Elle a survécu à un accident grave.
She survived a serious accident.
J'aimerais revivre cette journée encore et encore.
I'd love to relive that day over and over.
Le village a survécu à la guerre.
The village survived the war.
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
- The véc- stem. English has nothing like this — the stem switch from vi-/viv- to véc-/vécu- in the passé simple and participle is a hidden trap. Learners who confidently say je vis, nous vivons still produce the wrong il vivit for "he lived." The passé composé il a vécu is what you need.
- Auxiliary avoir, not être. Despite expressing existence, vivre takes avoir in compound tenses. English speakers reasoning from semantics ("to live = to be") often guess wrong.
- No "live in" preposition needed. English requires "live IN Paris"; French uses vivre à Paris (or just vivre Paris in literary style). The preposition matches the place, not the verb.
The literal "be alive" sense lines up cleanly. The idiomatic vivre une expérience (live an experience) translates well as long as you don't substitute expérimenter, which means "to experiment" (in a scientific sense), not "to experience."
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using avoir vivu in the passé composé.
❌ J'ai vivu trois ans à Tokyo.
Wrong — the past participle is vécu, not vivu. The véc- stem is unpredictable from the present.
✅ J'ai vécu trois ans à Tokyo.
I lived three years in Tokyo.
Mistake 2: Choosing être as auxiliary.
❌ Je suis vécu à Lyon pendant cinq ans.
Wrong — vivre takes avoir, not être, despite expressing existence.
✅ J'ai vécu à Lyon pendant cinq ans.
I lived in Lyon for five years.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the à with survivre.
❌ Il a survécu l'accident.
Wrong — survivre takes the indirect-object preposition à.
✅ Il a survécu à l'accident.
He survived the accident.
Mistake 4: Using expérimenter for "to experience."
❌ J'ai expérimenté beaucoup de choses cette année.
Wrong — expérimenter means 'to experiment' (test something), not 'to experience.' Use vivre.
✅ J'ai vécu beaucoup de choses cette année.
I experienced a lot of things this year.
Mistake 5: Pluralizing the cry Vive _ ! incorrectly.
❌ Vivent les vacance !
Wrong on two counts — vacances takes a final s, and the cry is most often invariable: Vive les vacances !
✅ Vive les vacances !
Hooray for the holidays!
Key takeaways
Vivre is the verb to live — biological existence, residence, livelihood, and lived experience all in one. The trap is the two-root paradigm: vi-/viv- in the present, imparfait, futur, conditional, subjunctive, and imperative; véc-/vécu- in the passé simple and the participles. Master j'ai vécu (passé composé) and il vécut (passé simple) and you have neutralized the verb's main difficulty.
In compound tenses, vivre takes avoir (j'ai vécu, j'avais vécu, j'aurai vécu). The participle vécu doubles as a noun meaning "lived experience" (le vécu).
Three idiomatic uses are essential: vivre à + place (residence), vivre de + noun (livelihood), and vivre + abstract noun (experience: vivre une période difficile). The fixed cry Vive la France ! preserves the optative subjunctive in fossilized form. The compounds survivre (with the indirect-object à) and revivre share the paradigm exactly.
Memorize the paradigms cold; reread the véc- stem section; use the page as a lookup. Vivre is one of the verbs you will use in nearly every conversation about your own life — and getting j'ai vécu right (rather than j'ai vivu) is one of the small details that separates fluent learners from beginners.
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