Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "live" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

живой

Meaning: live, alive, living, lively, vivid, animated, quick, agile

Pronunciation: [zhi-VOY]

Part of speech: adjective

Rank: #323 (see frequency list)

His house is surrounded by green hedge Photo by author CC-BY-2.0

Example sentences:

У нас в кла́ссе есть живо́й уголо́к.
We have a nature corner in the classroom.
Он принима́л живо́е уча́стие в разгово́ре.
He took an active part in conversation.
Его́ дом окружён живо́й и́згородью.
His house is surrounded by green hedge.
Алёна задала́ вопро́с в "Живо́м журна́ле".
Alyona asked a question in "Live journal".
Он на́чал проявля́ть живо́й интере́с к му́зыке с ра́ннего де́тства.
He began to show keen interest in music since early childhood.
Я по́мню его́ живы́м.
I remember him alive.
Живо́е обще́ние лу́чше разгово́ра по телефо́ну.
Person-to-person communication is better then a phone conversation.
literal Live communication is better then a talk on the phone.
Живы́е ро́зы о́чень прия́тно па́хнут.
Natural roses smell very pleasant.
Ты после́дний, кто ви́дел её живо́й.
You are the last one who saw her alive.
Де́вушка смотре́ла на меня́ с фотогра́фии, как бу́дто жива́я.
The girl looked at me from picture as if she was alive.
У неё о́чень весёлый, живо́й, отзы́вчивый хара́ктер.
She has very cheerful, lively, sympathetic character.
Мы провели́ по-настоя́щему живо́й и интере́сный ве́чер.
We had a really lively and interesting evening.
literal We spent a really lively and interesting evening.
Когда́ я уви́дел её живо́й и здоро́вой, я запла́кал от сча́стья.
When I saw her alive and well, I wept with happiness.

Idioms and set expressions:

жива́я и́згородь = hedgerow
живо́е воображе́ние = vivid imagination
живы́е цветы́ = natural flowers
живо́й уголо́к = nature corner
живо́е обще́ние = live/person-to-person/direct communication
живо́й портре́т = vivid portrait; speaking likeness

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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