Vivir Conjugation in Spanish
vivir means “live” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 32 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for living in a place, for living with family, and for living near the sea. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of vivir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo vivo en Madrid todos los días.” — “I live in Madrid every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: vivir
- English: to live
- Verb type: Regular -ir verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: viviendo
- Past participle: vivido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for vivir. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | vivo |
| tú | vives |
| él/ella/Ud. | vive |
| nosotros/as | vivimos |
| vosotros/as | vivís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | viven |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viví |
| tú | viviste |
| él/ella/Ud. | vivió |
| nosotros/as | vivimos |
| vosotros/as | vivisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | vivía |
| tú | vivías |
| él/ella/Ud. | vivía |
| nosotros/as | vivíamos |
| vosotros/as | vivíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viviré |
| tú | vivirás |
| él/ella/Ud. | vivirá |
| nosotros/as | viviremos |
| vosotros/as | viviréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivirán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viviría |
| tú | vivirías |
| él/ella/Ud. | viviría |
| nosotros/as | viviríamos |
| vosotros/as | viviríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivirían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he vivido |
| tú | has vivido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha vivido |
| nosotros/as | hemos vivido |
| vosotros/as | habéis vivido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han vivido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había vivido |
| tú | habías vivido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había vivido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos vivido |
| vosotros/as | habíais vivido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían vivido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré vivido |
| tú | habrás vivido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá vivido |
| nosotros/as | habremos vivido |
| vosotros/as | habréis vivido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán vivido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría vivido |
| tú | habrías vivido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría vivido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos vivido |
| vosotros/as | habríais vivido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían vivido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viva |
| tú | vivas |
| él/ella/Ud. | viva |
| nosotros/as | vivamos |
| vosotros/as | viváis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viviera |
| tú | vivieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | viviera |
| nosotros/as | viviéramos |
| vosotros/as | vivierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | vive |
| él/ella/Ud. | viva |
| nosotros/as | vivamos |
| vosotros/as | vivid |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | vivas |
| él/ella/Ud. | viva |
| nosotros/as | vivamos |
| vosotros/as | viváis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vivan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | viviendo |
| Past participle | vivido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo vivo en Madrid todos los días.” — “I live in Madrid every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú viviste con mi familia en Sevilla ayer.” — “You lived with my family in Seville yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él vivía cerca del mar antes.” — “He used to live near the sea before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo viviré en Madrid mañana.” — “I will live in Madrid tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú vivirías con mi familia en Sevilla algún día.” — “You would live with my family in Seville someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha vivido cerca del mar esta semana.” — “He has lived near the sea this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había vivido en Madrid antes de la fiesta.” — “I had lived in Madrid before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás vivido con mi familia en Sevilla para mañana.” — “You will have lived with my family in Seville by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría vivido cerca del mar ayer.” — “He would have lived near the sea yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo viva en Madrid.” — “It is important that i live in Madrid.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú vivieras con mi familia en Sevilla.” — “I wish you lived with my family in Seville.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of vivir gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Vive cerca del mar!” — “Live near the sea!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of vivir gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No vivas en Madrid.” — “Do not live in Madrid.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with vivir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo vivo en Madrid todos los días.” — “I live in Madrid every day.”
- “Tú viviste con mi familia en Sevilla ayer.” — “You lived with my family in Seville yesterday.”
- “Él vivía cerca del mar antes.” — “He used to live near the sea before.”
- “Yo viviré con mi familia en Sevilla mañana.” — “I will live with my family in Seville tomorrow.”
- “Tú vivirías en Madrid algún día.” — “You would live in Madrid someday.”
- “Él ha vivido cerca del mar esta semana.” — “He has lived near the sea this week.”
- “Yo había vivido en Madrid antes de la fiesta.” — “I had lived in Madrid before the party.”
- “Tú habrás vivido con mi familia en Sevilla para mañana.” — “You will have lived with my family in Seville by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él viva cerca del mar.” — “It is important that he live near the sea.”
- “¡Vive en Madrid!” — “Live in Madrid!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo vivir en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo vivo en Madrid.”
The infinitive vivir never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form vivo.
2. Confusing vivir with estar
✗ Wrong: “Yo estoy en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo vivo en Madrid.”
Vivir is to live somewhere; use en for the place, not a.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy vivido en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo he vivido en Madrid.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle vivido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “vivi”
✓ Right: “viví”
The accent on viví is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú vives en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú vivas en Madrid.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use vivas here, not the indicative vives.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo viví en Madrid antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo vivía en Madrid antes.”
The preterite viví describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect vivía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on vivir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of vivir in the Present indicative?
- A) vives
- B) vive
- C) vivimos
- D) vivo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of vivir in the Preterite?
- A) viviste
- B) vivimos
- C) vivió
- D) viví
What is the nosotros/as form of vivir in the Imperfect?
- A) vivíais
- B) vivíamos
- C) vivía
- D) vivías
What is the tú form of vivir in the Future?
- A) vivirás
- B) viviré
- C) vivirá
- D) viviremos
What is the yo form of vivir in the Conditional?
- A) vivirías
- B) viviríamos
- C) viviríais
- D) viviría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of vivir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) vivamos
- B) viváis
- C) viva
- D) vivas
What is the yo form of vivir in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) vivierais
- B) viviera
- C) vivieras
- D) viviéramos
What is the gerund of vivir?
- A) viviendo
- B) conociendo
- C) sintiendo
- D) tratando
What is the past participle of vivir?
- A) conocido
- B) sentido
- C) tratado
- D) vivido
What does vivir mean in English?
- A) to feel
- B) to try
- C) to live
- D) to know
Answer key
- D) vivo — the yo form of vivir in the present indicative is vivo. The other options (vives, vive, vivimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) vivió — the él/ella/Ud. form of vivir in the preterite is vivió. The other options (viví, viviste, vivimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) vivíamos — the nosotros/as form of vivir in the imperfect is vivíamos. The other options (vivía, vivías, vivía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) vivirás — the tú form of vivir in the future is vivirás. The other options (viviré, vivirá, viviremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) viviría — the yo form of vivir in the conditional is viviría. The other options (vivirías, viviría, viviríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) viva — the él/ella/Ud. form of vivir in the present subjunctive is viva. The other options (viva, vivas, vivamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) viviera — the yo form of vivir in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is viviera. The other options (vivieras, viviera, viviéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) viviendo — the gerund of vivir is viviendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) vivido — the past participle of vivir is vivido; perfect tenses use haber + vivido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to live — vivir means “to live” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does vivir mean in English?
vivir means “to live”. You use it for living in a place, for living with family, and for living near the sea. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vivir regular or irregular?
vivir is regular -ir verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is viviendo and the past participle is vivido.
What are the gerund and past participle of vivir?
The gerund is viviendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is vivido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he vivido (I have lived).
What is the difference between vivir and estar?
Vivir is to live somewhere; use en for the place, not a. If you are unsure, check the full table for estar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I live” in Spanish?
Say “Yo vivo en Madrid.” — “I live in Madrid every day.” The yo form of the present is vivo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- vivir in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- vivir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Conocer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Sentir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Tratar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise vivir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise vivir with the interactive tool.