살아
sah-rah
sara
살다
To say to live politely in the present tense, use 살아요 (sah-rah-yoh) · sarayo. Below is the full conjugation of 살다 across the three tenses and three everyday speech levels.
Grammar note (ㄹ stem): ㄹ-stem verbs end in ㄹ as the final consonant. They are conjugated regularly with vowel suffixes (살다 → 살아요), but the ㄹ drops before certain consonant suffixes — specifically before ㄴ, ㅂ, ㅅ, and before the formal ending 습니다: 살다 → 사는, 삽니다, 살지 (ㄹ kept before ㅈ). This is sometimes called a "ㄹ drop" or "ㄹ irregular." See all ㄹ-stem verbs →
Conjugation table
pron. = pronunciation guide · RR = Revised Romanization
Highlighted = where the stem changes
| Tense | Casual (반말) | Polite (요) | Formal (합니다) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | 살아요 sah-rah-yoh sarayo | 삽니다 sahm-nee-dah samnida | |
| Past | 살았어 sah-rah-ssuh sarasseo | 살았어요 sah-rah-ssuh-yoh sarasseoyo | 살았습니다 sah-rah-sseum-nee-dah sarasseumnida |
| Future | 살 거야 sahl guh-yah sal geoya | 살 거예요 sahl guh-yae-yoh sal geoyeyo | 살 겁니다 sahl guhm-nee-dah sal geomnida |
Example sentences
- casual present너 어디 살아?Where do you live?
- polite present저는 서울에 살아요.I live in Seoul.
- formal present이 섬에는 백 명 정도가 삽니다.About a hundred people live on this island.
- casual past어릴 때 어디서 살았어?Where did you live when you were little?
- polite past학생 때 기숙사에서 살았어요.I lived in a dorm when I was a student.
- formal past그 가족은 이 집에서 30년 동안 살았습니다.That family lived in this house for 30 years.
- casual future나중에 바닷가에서 살 거야.One day I’m going to live by the sea.
- polite future내년부터 혼자 살 거예요.I’m going to live on my own starting next year.
- formal future은퇴 후에는 시골에서 살 겁니다.After retiring, I will live in the countryside.
- honorific -(으)세요어디 사세요?Where do you live? (polite)
How it’s used
살다 means to live, both to reside somewhere and to be alive; 살아 있다 means “to be alive.” The place can take either 에 or 에서: 서울에 살아요 and 서울에서 살아요 are both correct. As an ㄹ-stem verb it drops ㄹ before ㄴ, ㅂ and ㅅ: 삽니다, 사세요, 사는 곳 (“the place where I live”).
Common mistake
Keeping the ㄹ where it drops: ✗ 어디 살세요? / 살습니다 → ✓ 어디 사세요? / 삽니다. 사세요 can look like 사다 (to buy), but in 어디 사세요? it can only mean “live.”
Other useful forms
Honorific / Command Polite (-(으)세요)
사세요
sah-sae-yoh
saseyo
Suggestion / Let's Polite (요)
살아요
sah-rah-yoh
sarayo
Question Polite (요)
살아요?
sah-rah-yoh-?
sarayo?
Connective "and" — (고)
살고
sahl-goh
salgo
Conditional "if" — (면)
살면
sahl-myuhn
salmyeon
Progressive (고 있어요)
살고 있어요
sahl-goh ee-ssuh-yoh
salgo isseoyo
Want to (고 싶어요)
살고 싶어요
sahl-goh shee-puh-yoh
salgo sipeoyo
Can / Able to ((으)ㄹ 수 있어요)
살 수 있어요
sahl soo ee-ssuh-yoh
sal su isseoyo
Because / So (아/어서)
살아서
sah-rah-suh
saraseo
Noun form — (기)
살기
sahl-gee
salgi
Noun form — (음)
삶
sahm
sam