Vivere Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

vivere — to live — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ere verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to live somewhere and to live a life, and the tables on this page use avere as the auxiliary, the auxiliary for its transitive and general uses, as in having lived in a city for years. Its passato remoto and future are irregular, with the stem shortening to vivr- in the future and conditional. On this page you will find vivere in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the vivere conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the vivere passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with vivere

In the present tense

  • “Io vivo a Roma ogni giorno.” — “I live in Rome”
  • “Tu vivi a Roma ogni giorno.” — “You live in Rome”
  • “Lui vive a Roma ogni giorno.” — “He lives in Rome”
  • “Noi viviamo a Roma ogni giorno.” — “We live in Rome”
  • “Voi vivete a Roma ogni giorno.” — “You live in Rome”
  • “Loro vivono a Roma ogni giorno.” — “They live in Rome”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “I have lived in Rome”
  • “Tu hai vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “You have lived in Rome”
  • “Lui ha vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “He has lived in Rome”
  • “Noi abbiamo vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “We have lived in Rome”
  • “Voi avete vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “You have lived in Rome”
  • “Loro hanno vissuto a Roma questa settimana.” — “They have lived in Rome”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Io vivevo a Roma una volta.” — “I used to live in Rome”
  • “Tu vivrai a Roma domani.” — “You will live in Rome”
  • “Lui vivrebbe a Roma un giorno.” — “He would live in Rome”
  • “È importante che noi viviamo a Roma.” — “It is important that we live in Rome”
  • “Vivi a Roma!” — “Live in Rome!”

How vivere is used

The first thing to know about vivere is its core meaning: to live. It means to live somewhere and to live a life, and the tables on this page use avere as the auxiliary, the auxiliary for its transitive and general uses, as in having lived in a city for years. Its passato remoto and future are irregular, with the stem shortening to vivr- in the future and conditional. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the passato prossimo, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company vivere keeps. The present io form is vivo, and it pairs naturally with the time words ogni giorno and sempre for habits, and with adesso for what is happening right now. The passato prossimo io form is ho vissuto, and it pairs with ieri and questa settimana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what vivere does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need vivo, never vivere. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho vissuto, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle vissuto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Vivere in context

Io vivo a Roma ogni giorno. Tu vivi a Roma ogni giorno. Lui vive a Roma ogni giorno. Noi viviamo a Roma ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of vivere is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — vivo, vivi, vive, viviamo — while the meaning stays the same: to live. Io ho vissuto a Roma questa settimana. Tu hai vissuto a Roma questa settimana. Lui ha vissuto a Roma questa settimana. Noi abbiamo vissuto a Roma questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of vivere appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to live — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Io vivere a Roma.”

✓ Right: “Io vivo a Roma ogni giorno.”

The infinitive vivere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form vivo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io vivi a Roma.”

✓ Right: “Io vivo a Roma ogni giorno.”

vivi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is vivo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io vivo a Roma ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho vissuto a Roma questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho vissuto here, not the present vivo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono vissuto a Roma.”

✓ Right: “Io ho vissuto a Roma questa settimana.”

vivere takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho vissuto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on vivere across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of vivere in the Present indicative?

    • A) vivo
    • B) vivi
    • C) vive
    • D) viviamo

  2. What is the io form of vivere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai vissuto
    • B) ha vissuto
    • C) ho vissuto
    • D) abbiamo vissuto

  3. What is the lui/lei form of vivere in the Imperfect?

    • A) vivevo
    • B) vivevi
    • C) vivevamo
    • D) viveva

  4. What is the noi form of vivere in the Future?

    • A) vivremo
    • B) vivrò
    • C) vivrai
    • D) vivrà

  5. What is the tu form of vivere in the Conditional?

    • A) vivrei
    • B) vivresti
    • C) vivrebbe
    • D) vivremmo

  6. What is the io form of vivere in the Passato remoto?

    • A) vivesti
    • B) visse
    • C) vissi
    • D) vivemmo

  7. What is the noi form of vivere in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) viva
    • B) viviate
    • C) vivano
    • D) viviamo

  8. What is the gerund of vivere?

    • A) vivendo
    • B) vissuto
    • C) vivere
    • D) vivo

  9. What is the past participle of vivere?

    • A) vivendo
    • B) vissuto
    • C) vivere
    • D) vivo

  10. What does vivere mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to live
  • D) to do, to make

Answer key

  1. B) vivi — the correct form is vivi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho vissuto — the correct form is ho vissuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) viveva — the correct form is viveva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) vivremo — the correct form is vivremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) vivresti — the correct form is vivresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) vissi — the correct form is vissi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) viviamo — the correct form is viviamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) vivendo — the correct form is vivendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) vissuto — the correct form is vissuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to live — the correct form is to live. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does vivere mean in English?

vivere means “to live”. You use it whenever you talk about to live in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.

Is vivere regular or irregular?

vivere is irregular. vivere is irregular in passato-remoto, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of vivere?

The gerund is vivendo and the past participle is vissuto. The perfect tenses use avere + vissuto.

Where can I see the full conjugation of vivere?

On the vivere conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The vivere passato prossimo tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for vivere, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages