The word ‘live‘ can mean many different things. As a verb, the meaning is to reside at a location or remain alive.
For example:
- I live in a bungalow. (reside)
- My grandma lived to 98. (remain alive)
Live is a regular verb. The past tense and past participle is lived.
phrasal verbs with live
Phrasal verbs with ‘live’ include:
- live by
meaning – follow rules or beliefs
example – ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword’ is my motto. Gangster runs through my veins. - live down
meaning – to stop being ashamed of something embarrassing
example – I got drunk and told my teacher I love him. I’ll never live it down. - live for
meaning – think something is very important
example – I lived for the weekends when I was a teenager. - live in
meaning – the place where you live
example – I lived in a tree house when I was in Peru. - live it up
meaning – have fun, spend money and party
example – When I finished uni, I lived it up in New York for 3 months. - live off
meaning – survive on the money you earn or be financially supported
example – The guy I was seeing still lives off his parents so, I finished with him. - live on
meaning – survive on the money you earn or continue to exist
example – We’ll have an extra £200 a month to live on when I get promoted. - live out
meaning – stay somewhere until you die or do something you have always dreamt of doing
example – I’m going to quit my job and live out my dream of running a farm. - live through
meaning – experience something unpleasant or survive through a period of time
example – My grandad lived through 2 wars. - live together
meaning – live with another person/other people
example – I’m starting Uni next week; I’ve got to live with 5 other people. - live up to
meaning – meet your expectations
example – The holiday didn’t live up to my expectations, I wouldn’t recommend going there. - live with
meaning – accept something unpleasant or live in the same place as another person
example – I still live with my parents, but I’m hoping to move out soon.
picture phrasal verbs with live
Let’s learn the meaning of the phrasal verbs that contain the verb ‘live’ in more detail and see some examples in use.
Did you know that many idiomatic expressions (idioms) in English also contain a lot of verbs? Just like phrasal verbs, idioms are a major part of the English language (slang in particular). They are used constantly amongst native English speakers and are handy to know and understand.
Now you’ve learnt all the phrasal verbs with live, how about learning the idioms with live too?