How to Say Lives in Spanish | Two Words, Two Meanings

As a noun, use “vidas”; as a verb, use “vive” or “viven,” matched to the subject.

You see the word “lives” and it feels simple. Then Spanish makes you choose. Are you talking about lives as in people’s life stories? Or lives as in where someone lives? English uses one spelling for both, so it’s easy to mix them up when you translate.

This page clears it up without the fluff. You’ll learn the two Spanish options, how to pick the right one in a sentence, and a set of copy-ready phrases you can drop into texts, homework, captions, or a trip chat.

How to Say Lives in Spanish for nouns and verbs

Spanish splits “lives” into two main lanes. One lane is the plural noun from “life.” The other lane is a verb form from “to live.” Same English spelling, different jobs, different Spanish words.

When “lives” means “life” in plural

If “lives” means multiple lives, use vidas. That’s “life” in plural: one life = vida, many lives = vidas.

Common patterns you’ll see a lot:

• vidas = lives (as things people have)
• muchas vidas = many lives
• salvar vidas = to save lives

When “lives” means “resides” or “is alive”

If “lives” is a verb, Spanish uses a form of vivir (“to live”). In the present tense, English “lives” often maps to:

• vive = he lives / she lives / you live (formal)
• viven = they live / you all live

So “She lives in Madrid” becomes Ella vive en Madrid. “They live in Madrid” becomes Ellos viven en Madrid.

Pick the right meaning in 10 seconds

Use this fast test when you’re unsure. Replace “lives” with “life” in your English sentence. If that swap still makes sense, you’re dealing with the noun, so you want vidas. If the swap breaks the sentence, you’re dealing with the verb, so you want a form of vivir.

Try it:

• “Many lives were changed.” → “Many life were changed.” Awkward, yet you still feel the noun idea. Spanish wants vidas.
• “He lives near the beach.” → “He life near the beach.” That fails, so Spanish wants vive.

Common sentence frames you can copy

Single-word memorizing helps. Sentence frames help more. Use these as templates and swap nouns, places, or names.

Frames with “vidas”

• Salvar vidas = save lives
• Cambiar vidas = change lives
• Nuestras vidas = our lives
• Sus vidas = their lives / your lives (formal plural)

Mini examples:

• Ese trabajo cambia vidas. (That job changes lives.)
• Hicieron todo para salvar vidas. (They did everything to save lives.)

Frames with “vive / viven”

• Vive en… = lives in…
• Vive con… = lives with…
• Viven cerca de… = live near…
• Viven aquí = live here

Mini examples:

• Mi hermana vive con mis padres. (My sister lives with my parents.)
• Mis amigos viven cerca del metro. (My friends live near the metro.)

Pronounce it clean and you’ll feel more confident

Spelling is only half the win. Saying it out loud locks it in and helps you catch errors before they hit the page.

• vida sounds like “BEE-dah” in many accents (soft b/v sound).
• vidas adds an “s” at the end: “BEE-dahs.”
• vive sounds like “BEE-veh.”
• viven sounds like “BEE-ven.”

If you tend to swap b and v in your head, you’re not alone. Spanish writes b and v, yet many speakers pronounce them in a similar way, so your ears won’t always save you. Let meaning guide you: noun = vidas, verb = vive/viven.

Table: English “lives” meanings and Spanish choices

This table packs the most common uses into one view. Use it when you’re stuck between noun and verb.

English intent	Spanish word	Notes for clean usage
Lives (plural of life)	vidas	Use with adjectives: muchas vidas, pocas vidas
Our lives	nuestras vidas	Match number and gender: nuestras + vidas
Changes lives	cambia vidas	Verb + plural noun; subject can be a person or a thing
Saves lives	salva vidas	Common in public messaging and everyday speech
He lives (resides)	vive	Present tense for él/ella/usted
They live (reside)	viven	Present tense for ellos/ellas/ustedes
He lives (is alive)	vive	Same form; meaning comes from the rest of the sentence
Long live… (a cheer)	¡Viva! / ¡Vivan!	Uses subjunctive; it’s a fixed cheering pattern

Use official references when you want zero doubt

If you like confirming a word before you post it, official dictionaries are your friend. The Spanish Royal Academy’s dictionary entries show the noun “vida” and the verb “vivir” with definitions and related notes.

These pages won’t write your sentence for you, yet they do one useful job: they keep you from trusting a random translation that’s off by one meaning.

Little grammar moves that prevent mistakes

Once you know vidas vs vive, the next errors come from agreement and from mixing up cheering forms with living-somewhere forms. These moves keep your Spanish looking clean.

Make possessives match “vidas”

Vida is feminine, so the plural keeps that. That’s why “our lives” is nuestras vidas, not nuestros vidas. Same idea for “their lives”: sus vidas works for “their” and also for formal “your.”

Sometimes you’ll see singular used when a writer wants a single shared idea, like “our life” as one collective experience. In day-to-day writing about multiple people, plural is the default choice.

Match the verb ending to the subject

English hides the subject inside the “-s” of “lives.” Spanish puts the subject into the verb ending itself. That’s why the form changes:

• vive pairs with él, ella, usted, and one named person
• viven pairs with ellos, ellas, ustedes, and plural nouns

If you want a fast self-check, add the pronoun in your head. “He lives” pushes you to vive. “They live” pushes you to viven.

Know the cheering form: “¡Viva!” and “¡Vivan!”

Spanish also uses “viva” and “vivan” in cheers and wishes: ¡Viva el equipo! or ¡Vivan los novios! That is not the same as “lives in a house.” It’s a set cheering style that comes from the present subjunctive.

If you want the official note on that pattern, the RAE entry in the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas about “¡viva!, ¡vivan!” explains how it works in real usage.

Get the verb right when time changes

A lot of “lives” sentences talk about now, so present tense covers most needs. You’ll still run into past time and planned time when telling stories or talking about a move.

Past time: “lived”

English flips to “lived.” Spanish uses two common past tenses, and the pick comes from how the speaker views the time period.

• Vivió = lived (a completed stretch)
• Vivía = used to live / was living (background or ongoing past)

Examples:

• Vivió en Lima dos años. (He lived in Lima for two years.)
• Vivía en Lima cuando era niño. (He used to live in Lima as a child.)

Planned time: “will live” and “going to live”

Spanish can use the simple future, and it can also use ir a + infinitive for plans.

• Viviré = I will live
• Va a vivir = he’s going to live

When you want a dependable verb-form checker for any tense, the Instituto Cervantes conjugator is a solid place to confirm endings.

Table: Present tense forms you’ll use most

If your sentence is “X lives …,” this is the core set. Learn these and you’ll stop second-guessing.

Subject	Form of vivir	Quick cue
yo	vivo	I live
tú	vives	you live (informal)
él / ella / usted	vive	he/she lives; you live (formal)
nosotros / nosotras	vivimos	we live
vosotros / vosotras	vivís	you all live (Spain)
ellos / ellas / ustedes	viven	they live; you all live

Polish: Say it naturally, not like a word swap

Once the grammar is right, the next step is choosing phrases that sound like something a Spanish speaker would write. These options keep your tone natural.

Use “vive” with places and routines

Spanish often uses vivir with neighborhoods, cities, and day-to-day settings. Pair it with solo, juntos, or con when you want living arrangements.

• Vive solo. (He lives alone.)
• Viven juntos. (They live together.)
• Vivo cerca. (I live nearby.)

Use “vidas” for bigger statements

When English uses “lives” in a broad sense—jobs that save lives, events that change lives—Spanish keeps the noun plural. Pair it with verbs like salvar or cambiar based on your meaning.

• Ese programa salva vidas. (That program saves lives.)
• La música cambió nuestras vidas. (Music changed our lives.)

Mini practice that locks it in

Rules help. Then your brain wants a quick test. Do this once and the choice sticks.

1. Write three English sentences with “lives.” Make one noun use, one residence use, one “alive” use.
2. Translate them. Force yourself to pick vidas or a form of vivir with no guessing.
3. Check your verb form with the subject list in the table above.

If you catch yourself reaching for vidas in a place sentence, pause and ask, “Is this a life, or is this living somewhere?” That one question fixes most slips.

Recap you can remember

Vidas is the plural noun for “lives.” Vive and viven are verb forms meaning “lives” as in “resides” or “is alive.” Pick the meaning first, then match the verb ending to the subject, and your Spanish will read clean.