leva
Meaning
live; be noisy
In Swedish: vara vid liv, existera
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att leva | to live |
|---|---|---|
| Present | lever | jag lever |
| Past | levde | jag levde |
| Supine | levt | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har levt | jag har levt |
| Past perfect | hade levt | jag hade levt |
| Future | ska leva | or: kommer att leva |
| Conditional | skulle leva | jag skulle leva |
| Imperative | lev! | a command |
| Present participle | levande | -ing, used as an adjective |
| Past participle | levd | used like an adjective, and agrees like one |
Passive (-s form)
| Infinitive | levas |
|---|---|
| Present | levs |
| Past | levdes |
| Supine | levts |
Group 2: -er verbs. Present -er, past -de or -te (after a voiceless consonant), supine -t. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use lever. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise leva
1 / 2Yesterday I … (leva). Which is the past tense?
leva in a sentence
- Lever dina föräldrar?Are your parents still alive?
- föda levande ungargive birth to live offspring
- leva på rislive on rice
- han svor och levdehe cursed and kicked up a row
- Lever den skådisen än? Jag trodde han var död.Is that actor still alive? I thought he was dead.
- Den lever!It's alive!
- Kompositören är död, men musiken leverThe composer is dead, but the music lives
- Hoppet leverHope is alive
Expressions
- leva upp till sitt ryktelive up to one's reputation
- levande ljuscandles
Questions
What does leva mean in English?
leva means “live, be noisy”.
What is the past tense of leva?
The past tense of leva is levde (“jag levde”). The supine is levt, used in “jag har levt”.
What is the present tense of leva?
lever, the same for every person: jag lever, du lever, vi lever.
Where the course teaches it
- Swedish verbs of position: ligger, stårComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Giving commands in SwedishComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish word order with time expressionsComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish verbs: förstå, säga, försökaComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish past tense: -te and -de endingsComplete Swedish – Season 2
Origin
From Old Swedish liva, from Old Norse lifa, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, cling, linger”).
Nearby common words
leva is number 507 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary