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

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.

phrasal verbs with live - live by
phrasal verbs with live - live down
phrasal verbs with live - live for
phrasal verbs with live - live in
phrasal verbs with live - live it up
phrasal verbs with live - live off
phrasal verbs with live - live on
phrasal verbs with live - live out
phrasal verbs with live - live through
phrasal verbs with live - live together
phrasal verbs with live - live up to
phrasal verbs with live - live with

You can download a table of phrasal verbs with live below.

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?