Vivere means “to live,” both in the sense of being alive and of having your home somewhere. It has three irregular spots: the past participle vissuto, the passato remoto vissi, and a shortened future stem, vivrò.
Infinitive
vivere
English
to live
Auxiliary
avere or essere
Past participle
vissuto
Gerund
vivendo
Irregular past participle. The present is regular -ERE (vivo, vivi, vive, viviamo, vivete, vivono), and so are the imperfetto (vivevo) and the subjunctive (viva, vivessi). Three areas are irregular. The participle is vissuto, used in all compound tenses. The passato remoto has vissi, visse and vissero for io, lui/lei and loro, with regular vivesti, vivemmo and viveste. The future and conditional drop the e of the infinitive: vivrò, vivrai, vivremo, vivrei, vivremmo, never viverò. The compounds sopravvivere and convivere copy the participle: sopravvissuto, convissuto.
To say where you live, use a before a city and in before a country or region: vivo a Napoli, viviamo in Germania, vivono in Toscana. For your exact address, Italians often prefer abitare: abito in via Garibaldi. Vivere di means to live on or to live for something: vive di musica, vivere di rendita. With a direct object, vivere means to go through or experience: vivere un momento difficile, ha vissuto una vita piena. You also meet the verb in the exclamation viva!, a subjunctive form that means “long live” or “hooray for”: viva gli sposi.
Vivere takes avere when it has a direct object: ho vissuto un'esperienza incredibile. Used without an object, meaning to live or to be alive, it can take avere or essere, and both are correct: ho vissuto a Roma per dieci anni, sono vissuto a Roma per dieci anni. In everyday speech avere is the more common choice. Essere is frequent in writing and when you talk about a lifespan or a historical period, and then the participle agrees with the subject: mia nonna è vissuta fino a cent'anni, Dante è vissuto tra il Duecento e il Trecento. If you are not sure, avere is always safe.
Vivere in context
Presente:Vivo a Bologna da cinque anni. (I've been living in Bologna for five years.)
Passato Prossimo:Abbiamo vissuto due anni in Australia prima di tornare in Italia. (We lived in Australia for two years before coming back to Italy.)
Imperfetto:Da studenti vivevamo in quattro in un appartamento minuscolo. (As students, four of us lived in a tiny flat.)
Passato Remoto:Leonardo da Vinci visse gli ultimi anni della sua vita in Francia. (Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life in France.)
Futuro Semplice:Un giorno vivremo in una casa con il giardino. (One day we will live in a house with a garden.)
Condizionale Presente:Non vivrei mai in una grande città. (I would never live in a big city.)
Congiuntivo Presente:È bello che tu viva vicino ai tuoi genitori. (It's nice that you live near your parents.)
Common expressions with vivere
vivere alla giornata: to live from day to day. Without plans for the future, sometimes by choice and sometimes out of necessity.
vivere e lasciar vivere: live and let live
vivere di rendita: to live off your investments, to rest on your laurels
vivere sulle nuvole: to have your head in the clouds
per il quieto vivere: for a quiet life, to keep the peace. Said when you give in to avoid an argument: per il quieto vivere, ho detto di sì.
viva …!: long live …, hooray for …. A frozen present subjunctive of vivere: viva l'Italia, viva la mamma.
Common mistakes
Ho vissuto a Londra per tre anni., not Ho vivuto a Londra per tre anni. (I lived in London for three years.). The participle of vivere is irregular: vissuto, with a double s. There is no form vivuto.
Vivrò in Italia l'anno prossimo., not Viverò in Italia l'anno prossimo. (I will live in Italy next year.). The future of vivere drops the e of the infinitive, so the stem is vivr-: vivrò, vivrai, vivrà. The conditional does the same: vivrei.
Vivo a Roma con la mia famiglia., not Vivo in Roma con la mia famiglia. (I live in Rome with my family.). English uses “in” for both cities and countries, but Italian uses a with cities and towns and in with countries and regions: vivo a Roma, vivo in Italia.
Both, depending on the sentence. With a direct object, only avere: ho vissuto momenti bellissimi. Without an object, both are correct: ho vissuto in Spagna and sono vissuto in Spagna. Avere is more common in conversation. Essere is common in writing and for lifespans, with agreement: è vissuta novant'anni.
What is the past participle of vivere?
Vissuto. It is irregular and has a double s. It also works as an adjective meaning “lived-in” or “experienced”: una casa vissuta, una storia vissuta (a true story, something that really happened).
Is vivere irregular?
Partly. The present, imperfetto and subjunctive are regular -ERE forms. The irregular parts are the participle vissuto, the passato remoto forms vissi, visse and vissero, and the future and conditional stem vivr- (vivrò, vivrei).
What is the difference between vivere and abitare?
Abitare is only about where your home is: abito al terzo piano, abito in centro. Vivere can say the same thing (vivo a Milano) but also means to be alive and to experience life: vivere bene, vivere un sogno. For your street or floor, abitare sounds more natural.