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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

leben

to live

  • #33 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: gelebt

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I live
  2. du you live
  3. er, sie, es he/she lives
  4. wir we live
  5. ihr you all live
  6. sie, Sie they live

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I lived
  2. du you lived
  3. er, sie, es he/she lived
  4. wir we lived
  5. ihr you all lived
  6. sie, Sie they lived

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have lived
  2. du you have lived
  3. er, sie, es he/she has lived
  4. wir we have lived
  5. ihr you all have lived
  6. sie, Sie they have lived

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will live
  2. du you will live
  3. er, sie, es he/she will live
  4. wir we will live
  5. ihr you all will live
  6. sie, Sie they will live

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would live
  2. du you would live
  3. er, sie, es he/she would live
  4. wir we would live
  5. ihr you all would live
  6. sie, Sie they would live

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du live!
  2. ihr live! (all of you)
  3. Sie live! (formal)

How to use leben

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Meine Eltern leben seit zehn Jahren in Spanien.

    My parents have lived in Spain for ten years.

  2. Simple past

    Mein Opa lebte bis zum Schluss allein.

    My grandpa lived alone until the end.

  3. Perfect

    Wir haben drei Jahre lang in Hamburg gelebt.

    We lived in Hamburg for three years.

  4. Future

    Wo werdet ihr nach der Hochzeit leben?

    Where will you live after the wedding?

  5. Conditional

    Ohne Kaffee würde ich nicht lange leben.

    I wouldn't live long without coffee.

  6. Imperative

    Lebt euer Leben und macht euch keine Sorgen.

    Live your lives and don't worry.

Good to know

  • Leben is to be alive or to live somewhere in general; wohnen is to live at an address.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.