Vivere (to live) looks at first glance like a perfectly regular second-conjugation verb: the infinitive ends in -ere, the present indicative follows the standard pattern (vivo, vivi, vive, viviamo, vivete, vivono), and the imperfetto is textbook (vivevo, vivevi, viveva...). For about half its paradigm, that first impression holds.
The other half tells a different story. The passato remoto is irregular with the characteristic "1-3-3" pattern (vissi, vivesti, visse) built on a doubled-consonant stem viss-; the futuro and condizionale contract sharply to vivr- (vivrò, vivrei), dropping the unstressed e of the infinitive; and the past participle is the genuinely irregular vissuto — not vivuto, which is a non-form despite looking like the expected output.
On top of all that, vivere has an unusual flexibility in compound tenses: it can take either essere or avere as auxiliary depending on what kind of "living" you mean. English makes no analogous distinction, which is why this is one of the verbs where learners reliably stumble even after they've otherwise mastered Italian compound tenses.
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| io | vivo | /ˈvivo/ |
| tu | vivi | /ˈvivi/ |
| lui / lei / Lei | vive | /ˈvive/ |
| noi | viviamo | /viˈvjamo/ |
| voi | vivete | /viˈvete/ |
| loro | vivono | /ˈvivono/ |
The infinitive vivere is pronounced /ˈvivere/ with stress on the first syllable — vìvere, not vivère. This stress pattern carries through the present (vìvo, vìvi, vìve, vìvono) and shifts only when an ending pulls the stress onto a later syllable (vivià-mo, vivé-te). Mispronouncing vìvono as vivó-no is a common learner mistake — the stress should fall on the first syllable, like cantano or mangiano.
Vivo a Bologna da quasi vent'anni, ormai mi sento di qua.
I've been living in Bologna for almost twenty years — by now I feel like I'm from here.
Vivi ancora con i tuoi o ti sei trasferita?
Do you still live with your parents, or have you moved out?
Mia sorella vive a Berlino e lavora in una galleria.
My sister lives in Berlin and works at a gallery.
Viviamo bene, non ci manca niente.
We live well — we don't lack for anything.
Vivete in centro o in periferia?
Do you guys live in the center or in the suburbs?
I miei nonni vivono ancora nella casa dove sono nati.
My grandparents still live in the house where they were born.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | vivevo |
| tu | vivevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | viveva |
| noi | vivevamo |
| voi | vivevate |
| loro | vivevano |
The imperfetto is fully regular and built on the predictable stem viv- with the standard -evo, -evi, -eva endings of an -ere verb. It is the workhorse for describing how someone used to live — habitual past situations, long-term residences, ways of life that no longer hold.
Da bambino vivevo in un piccolo paese di montagna.
As a child I lived in a small mountain village.
Ai tempi dell'università vivevamo tutti insieme in un appartamento al sesto piano.
During university we all lived together in a sixth-floor apartment.
Si vedeva subito che vivevano una vita semplice e felice.
You could see straight away that they were living a simple, happy life.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | vissi |
| tu | vivesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | visse |
| noi | vivemmo |
| voi | viveste |
| loro | vissero |
A textbook 1-3-3 passato remoto: the io, lui, and loro forms switch to the irregular stem viss- with the -i, -e, -ero endings, while tu, noi, and voi keep the regular stem viv- with regular endings. The doubled -ss- is inherited from Latin vixi (perfect of vivere), where the x fused into a long s.
The same doubled-stem stays for the past participle (vissuto) — these two forms travel together, and once you know one, the other follows.
Leopardi visse gran parte della sua vita a Recanati, ma morì a Napoli.
Leopardi lived most of his life in Recanati, but died in Naples.
In quegli anni vissero momenti durissimi, ma non si arresero mai.
In those years they went through very hard times, but they never gave up.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | vivrò |
| tu | vivrai |
| lui / lei / Lei | vivrà |
| noi | vivremo |
| voi | vivrete |
| loro | vivranno |
The future stem vivr- is contracted from viver-: Italian regularly drops the unstressed e of the infinitive in the future and conditional of -ere verbs (compare avere → avr-, potere → potr-, vedere → vedr-). Don't write viverò — that form does not exist in modern Italian.
Like with essere and avere, the future of vivere doubles as conjecture about the present in some idiomatic phrases (vivrà a Roma adesso — "she's probably living in Rome now").
Vivrò sempre con il rimpianto di non averlo detto in tempo.
I'll always live with the regret of not having said it in time.
Non so dove vivremo tra dieci anni — magari all'estero.
I don't know where we'll be living in ten years — maybe abroad.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | vivrei |
| tu | vivresti |
| lui / lei / Lei | vivrebbe |
| noi | vivremmo |
| voi | vivreste |
| loro | vivrebbero |
Same contracted vivr- stem as the future, with the standard conditional endings -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero. Note again the double m in vivremmo — single-m vivremo is the future ("we will live"), double-m vivremmo is the conditional ("we would live"). This is the same one-letter trap that catches learners with avremo / avremmo and saremo / saremmo.
Vivrei volentieri al mare, ma il lavoro mi tiene in città.
I'd happily live by the sea, but work keeps me in the city.
Vivremmo molto meglio se lavorassimo di meno e dormissimo di più.
We'd live much better if we worked less and slept more.
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | viva |
| (che) tu | viva |
| (che) lui / lei | viva |
| (che) noi | viviamo |
| (che) voi | viviate |
| (che) loro | vivano |
The three singular forms collapse into viva — identical, on paper, to the famous exclamation Viva l'Italia! ("Long live Italy!"), which is in fact a fossilised third-singular subjunctive of this very verb. Once you notice that, the form sticks.
Penso che Marco viva ancora a Torino, ma non ne sono sicura.
I think Marco still lives in Turin, but I'm not sure.
Mi auguro che voi viviate sempre in armonia.
I hope you'll always live in harmony.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | vivessi |
| (che) tu | vivessi |
| (che) lui / lei | vivesse |
| (che) noi | vivessimo |
| (che) voi | viveste |
| (che) loro | vivessero |
These forms appear constantly in hypothetical sentences with se — the if I lived, if she were living construction. Note that the voi form viveste is identical to the passato remoto voi form; context disambiguates.
Se vivessi al sud, mangerei sempre fuori.
If I lived in the south, I'd always eat out.
Pensavo che vivessero ancora insieme, invece si sono separati l'anno scorso.
I thought they were still living together — actually they split up last year.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | vivi |
| Lei (formal) | viva |
| noi | viviamo |
| voi | vivete |
| loro (formal pl.) | vivano |
The tu imperative is vivi — identical to the present indicative tu form, as with all regular -ere verbs. The Lei form viva is the third-singular subjunctive in its imperative role, and is the source of the celebratory exclamation Viva! ("Long live!").
The imperatives of vivere are most often heard not as direct commands but as exhortations and toasts: viva la vita (long live life), vivi e lascia vivere (live and let live), viva gli sposi (long live the newlyweds).
Vivi il presente, non rimuginare sul passato.
Live in the present — don't dwell on the past.
Viva l'Italia, viva la Repubblica!
Long live Italy, long live the Republic!
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | vivere |
| Infinito passato | essere vissuto/a/i/e or aver vissuto |
| Gerundio presente | vivendo |
| Gerundio passato | essendo vissuto/a/i/e or avendo vissuto |
| Participio passato | vissuto |
The participle vissuto is the form to commit to memory. It travels with the doubled-ss stem of the passato remoto (vissi, visse, vissero) and shows up in every compound tense. The expected-but-wrong form vivuto would be the regular output of the -ere paradigm; resist it.
Vivendo all'estero ho imparato molto di me stesso.
By living abroad, I've learned a lot about myself.
Auxiliary choice — essere or avere?
This is where vivere gets genuinely interesting. Italian normally splits compound-tense auxiliaries cleanly: motion and state-change verbs take essere, transitive and most other intransitive verbs take avere. Vivere sits in a rare middle zone where both auxiliaries are correct, and the choice subtly shifts the meaning.
Essere — for living-as-residence
When vivere describes where someone lived, for how long, or in what life-state — i.e. vivere used intransitively as a near-synonym of abitare or risiedere — the auxiliary is most often essere. The participle agrees with the subject like an adjective.
Sono vissuto a Roma per quindici anni, poi mi sono trasferito a Milano.
I (m.) lived in Rome for fifteen years, then I moved to Milan.
Mia nonna è vissuta novantotto anni in piena lucidità.
My grandmother lived ninety-eight years in full clarity of mind.
Sono vissuti per anni nello stesso palazzo senza mai conoscersi.
They lived for years in the same building without ever knowing each other.
Avere — for experiential or transitive vivere
When vivere takes a direct object — when you live an experience, live a life, live a moment — the auxiliary is avere without exception. Here vivere is functioning as a transitive verb, and Italian transitive verbs almost always take avere.
Ho vissuto un'esperienza che mi ha cambiato la vita.
I lived through an experience that changed my life.
Abbiamo vissuto giorni difficili durante la pandemia.
We lived through difficult days during the pandemic.
Ha vissuto una storia d'amore bellissima a vent'anni.
She had a beautiful love story at twenty.
When both work — the residency case
For the residency meaning, avere is also fully acceptable, and many speakers actively prefer it. The Accademia della Crusca and major reference grammars (including Serianni) treat sono vissuto a Roma and ho vissuto a Roma as equally correct, with regional and stylistic preferences driving the choice.
Ho vissuto a Berlino dal 2010 al 2018.
I lived in Berlin from 2010 to 2018. (auxiliary: avere — equally correct)
Sono vissuto a Berlino dal 2010 al 2018.
I lived in Berlin from 2010 to 2018. (auxiliary: essere — equally correct)
A rough generalisation: essere sounds slightly more elevated or literary, while avere is the more neutral choice in everyday spoken Italian. Northern speakers and journalistic writing lean avere; literary and southern usage lean essere. Both will be perfectly understood and neither sounds wrong.
Compound tenses
The full compound paradigm with avere (the more common conversational choice). For the essere versions, replace each form of avere with the corresponding form of essere, and make the participle agree with the subject (vissuto, vissuta, vissuti, vissute).
| Tense | io | noi |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | ho vissuto | abbiamo vissuto |
| Trapassato prossimo | avevo vissuto | avevamo vissuto |
| Trapassato remoto | ebbi vissuto | avemmo vissuto |
| Futuro anteriore | avrò vissuto | avremo vissuto |
| Condizionale passato | avrei vissuto | avremmo vissuto |
| Congiuntivo passato | abbia vissuto | abbiamo vissuto |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | avessi vissuto | avessimo vissuto |
Avevo vissuto a Parigi prima di trasferirmi a Roma.
I had lived in Paris before moving to Rome.
Se fossi vissuta in un'altra epoca, mi sarebbe piaciuto essere una scrittrice.
If I had lived in another era, I'd have liked to be a writer.
Idioms and collocations
Vivere is a productive verb in Italian fixed expressions. A handful of the most common:
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| vivere alla giornata | to live day to day, hand-to-mouth |
| vivere alle spalle di qualcuno | to live off someone (sponging) |
| vivere di rendita | to live off independent income |
| vivere e lasciar vivere | to live and let live |
| chi vivrà vedrà | time will tell (lit. "whoever lives will see") |
| vivere nel ricordo | to live in someone's memory |
| saper vivere | to know how to live; to have savoir vivre |
Da quando ha perso il lavoro, vive alla giornata.
Since he lost his job, he's been living day to day.
Lui ha sempre saputo vivere — buon vino, buona compagnia, niente fretta.
He's always known how to live — good wine, good company, no rush.
Chi vivrà vedrà chi aveva ragione.
Time will tell who was right.
Common mistakes
❌ Ho vivuto a Firenze per dieci anni.
Incorrect — vivuto is a non-form. The participle is vissuto.
✅ Ho vissuto a Firenze per dieci anni.
Correct — vissuto with double-ss.
❌ Viverò sempre con questo rimpianto.
Incorrect — the future stem is contracted to vivr-, not viver-.
✅ Vivrò sempre con questo rimpianto.
Correct — vivrò, with the unstressed e dropped.
❌ Ho vissuto un momento bellissimo — sono vissuto un momento bellissimo.
Incorrect — with a direct object, the auxiliary must be avere, not essere. (Both versions of the same sentence here are flagged: only the avere one is right.)
✅ Ho vissuto un momento bellissimo.
Correct — transitive vivere always takes avere.
❌ Penso che lui vive in centro.
Incorrect — penso che triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Penso che lui viva in centro.
Correct — viva is the congiuntivo presente.
❌ Vivremo in un mondo migliore se ci impegnassimo tutti.
Incorrect for a counterfactual — vivremo (single m) is the future.
✅ Vivremmo in un mondo migliore se ci impegnassimo tutti.
Correct — vivremmo (double m) is the conditional 'we would live'.
Key takeaways
Vivere hides three irregularities behind a regular-looking infinitive: an irregular passato remoto (vissi, visse, vissero), an irregular participle (vissuto, never vivuto), and a contracted future/conditional stem (vivr-).
Three points to internalise:
Vissi and vissuto travel together — both built on the doubled-ss stem from Latin vixi. Memorise them as a pair.
Auxiliary choice depends on what you mean. Transitive vivere un'esperienza: always avere. Intransitive vivere a Roma: either, with regional and stylistic preferences. When in doubt, avere is safer in conversation.
Vivrò vs viverò: only the contracted form exists. The same applies to all the conditional forms (vivrei, vivremmo, vivrebbero).
For the parallel question of how to choose between vivere and abitare in everyday speech, see vivere vs abitare.
Now practice Italian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Essere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of essere (to be) across every tense and mood — the most irregular and one of the two most-used verbs in Italian.
- Avere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of avere (to have) across every tense and mood — the most-used verb in Italian and the auxiliary for the majority of compound tenses.
- Nascere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of nascere (to be born) — an A1 essential with two famous quirks: the -cqu- passato remoto and the irregular participle nato.
- Morire: Full ConjugationA2 — Complete paradigm of morire (to die) — a doubly irregular -ire verb with the o → uo stem shift, an idiosyncratic -io / -iono ending, and the participle morto.
- Vivere vs Abitare: Two Verbs for 'To Live'A2 — Italian splits English 'to live' between two verbs: abitare for the narrow act of residing somewhere, and vivere for the wider sense of existing, experiencing, and dwelling. The choice is meaningful — and the overlap is smaller than it looks.
- Auxiliary Selection: Essere vs Avere (The Critical Decision)A1 — The single grammatical decision that determines how every Italian compound tense works — when to use essere, when to use avere, and how to predict the right answer for any verb.