The Imperfect Tense of vivir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Cuando era niño, vivía en una granja (When I was a child, I lived on a farm).

Vivir is a regular -ir verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the standard pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Vivir (to live) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The imperfect tense of vivir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as descriptions and states of being.

Ongoing action in the past: For example, Cuando era niño, vivía en un pueblo pequeño. (When I was a child, I lived in a small town.)

Repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, Mis abuelos vivían en una granja y cultivaban sus propios alimentos. (My grandparents lived on a farm and grew their own food.)

Description in the past: For example, La casa donde vivíamos era muy antigua. (The house where we lived was very old.)

State of being in the past: For example, Cuando era joven, vivía sin preocupaciones. (When I was young, I lived without worries.)

Colloquial/slang usage: For example, ¡Vivía la vida loca! (I was living the crazy life!)

Examples

Examples of Vivir in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando vivía en la ciudad, salía a caminar por las noches. (When I lived in the city, I would go out for walks at night.)

De niño, vivíamos en una casa pequeña pero acogedora. (As a child, we lived in a small but cozy house.)

Mis abuelos vivían en el campo y cultivaban sus propios alimentos. (My grandparents lived in the countryside and grew their own food.)

Antes, vivía al día sin preocuparme por el futuro. (Before, I lived day-to-day without worrying about the future.)

En esa época, vivíamos con muy pocos recursos económicos. (Back then, we lived with very few financial resources.)

Ella vivía la vida al máximo y disfrutaba de cada momento. (She lived life to the fullest and enjoyed every moment.)

Nosotros vivíamos en un barrio tranquilo donde todos se conocían. (We lived in a quiet neighborhood where everyone knew each other.)

Aunque vivía solo, mantenía una vida social activa. (Although he lived alone, he maintained an active social life.)

En su juventud, vivía de fiesta en fiesta sin preocupaciones. (In his youth, he lived from party to party without a care.)

Ellas vivían su vida con pasión y perseguían sus sueños. (They lived their lives with passion and pursued their dreams.)

Antes de mudarnos, vivíamos en un departamento pequeño pero acogedor. (Before we moved, we lived in a small but cozy apartment.)

Cuando vivía en la ciudad, disfrutaba de la vida nocturna y la emoción. (When I lived in the city, I enjoyed the nightlife and the excitement.)

En aquellos días, vivíamos al día y no nos preocupábamos por el futuro. (In those days, we lived day-to-day and didn’t worry about the future.)

Ella vivía una vida sencilla pero plena, disfrutando de las pequeñas cosas. (She lived a simple but fulfilling life, enjoying the little things.)

Aunque vivíamos lejos, manteníamos una estrecha relación familiar. (Although we lived far away, we maintained a close family relationship.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Vivir (to live) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.