Vivre: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Vivre means “to live”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for vivre, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with vivre, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans tous les jours.” — “I live in Paris for ten years every day.”
- “Tu vis avec ma famille tous les jours.” — “You live with my family every day.”
- “J'ai vécu près de la mer cette semaine.” — “I have lived near the sea this week.”
- “Il vivait à Paris depuis dix ans autrefois.” — “He used to live in Paris for ten years in the past.”
- “Nous vivrons avec ma famille demain.” — “We will live with my family tomorrow.”
- “Tu as vécu près de la mer cette semaine.” — “You have lived near the sea this week.”
- “Je vivrais à Paris depuis dix ans un jour.” — “I would live in Paris for ten years one day.”
- “Il est important que il vive avec ma famille.” — “It is important that he live with my family.”
- “Nous avions vécu près de la mer avant la fête.” — “We had lived near the sea before the party.”
- “Il vivra à Paris depuis dix ans demain.” — “He will live in Paris for ten years tomorrow.”
- “Ils vivent avec ma famille tous les jours.” — “They live with my family every day.”
- “Vis près de la mer !” — “Live near the sea!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about in Paris for ten years. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how vivre changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of vivre below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans tous les jours.” — “I live in Paris for ten years every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je vivrai avec ma famille demain.” — “I will live with my family tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai vécu près de la mer cette semaine.” — “I have lived near the sea this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je vivrais à Paris depuis dix ans un jour.” — “I would live in Paris for ten years one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Vivre in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of vivre that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, vivre describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is vis: “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans tous les jours.” — “I live in Paris for ten years every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, vivre describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is vivait: “Il vivait avec ma famille autrefois.” — “He used to live with my family in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, vivre reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle vécu. The je form is ai vécu: “J'ai vécu près de la mer cette semaine.” — “I have lived near the sea this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, vivre talks about what will happen. The nous form is vivrons: “Nous vivrons à Paris depuis dix ans demain.” — “We will live in Paris for ten years tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, vivre talks about what would happen. The tu form is vivrais: “Tu vivrais avec ma famille un jour.” — “You would live with my family one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, vivre appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is vive, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je vive près de la mer.” — “It is important that I live near the sea.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je vivre à Paris depuis dix ans.”
✓ Right: “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans.”
The infinitive vivre never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form vis.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu vis à Paris depuis dix ans.”
✓ Right: “Tu vis à Paris depuis dix ans.”
vis is the je form. With tu you need vis. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai vécu à Paris depuis dix ans hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai vécu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu vis avec ma famille.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu vives avec ma famille.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: vives, not the indicative vis.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je vécu à Paris depuis dix ans.”
✓ Right: “Je ai vécu à Paris depuis dix ans.”
The passé composé of vivre needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle vécu: the full je form is ai vécu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on vivre. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of vivre in the Present indicative?
- A) vivons
- B) vivez
- C) vis
- D) vit
What is the tu form of vivre in the Present indicative?
- A) vivons
- B) vivez
- C) vis
- D) vit
What is the il/elle form of vivre in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a vécu
- B) ai vécu
- C) as vécu
- D) avons vécu
What is the nous form of vivre in the Imperfect?
- A) vivait
- B) viviez
- C) vivions
- D) vivais
What is the tu form of vivre in the Future?
- A) vivrons
- B) vivras
- C) vivrai
- D) vivra
What is the je form of vivre in the Conditional?
- A) vivrais
- B) vivrait
- C) vivrions
- D) vivriez
What is the il/elle form of vivre in the Present subjunctive?
- A) vivions
- B) viviez
- C) vive
- D) vives
What is the je form of vivre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez vécu
- B) avais vécu
- C) avait vécu
- D) avions vécu
What is the gerund of vivre?
- A) en arrivant
- B) en vivant
- C) en sentant
- D) en restant
What does vivre mean in English?
- A) to arrive
- B) to live
- C) to feel
- D) to stay
Answer key
- C) vis — the je form of vivre in the Present indicative is vis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) vis — the tu form of vivre in the Present indicative is vis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a vécu — the il/elle form of vivre in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a vécu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) vivions — the nous form of vivre in the Imperfect is vivions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) vivras — the tu form of vivre in the Future is vivras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) vivrais — the je form of vivre in the Conditional is vivrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) vive — the il/elle form of vivre in the Present subjunctive is vive. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais vécu — the je form of vivre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais vécu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en vivant — the gerund of vivre is en vivant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to live — vivre means “to live” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does vivre mean in English?
vivre means “to live”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vivre regular or irregular?
vivre is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is vivant and the past participle is vécu.
How do I practise vivre every day?
Say one sentence with vivre in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je vis à Paris depuis dix ans tous les jours.”, “J'ai vécu à Paris depuis dix ans cette semaine.” and “Je vivrai à Paris depuis dix ans demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for vivre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of vivre — every tense of vivre in one place.
- Vivre in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Vivre examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Sentir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Rester conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Arriver conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise vivre with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise vivre with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise vivre with the interactive tool.