Alive vs. live

This is a common point of confusion for English learners. The main difference lies in their grammatical function and their position in a sentence.

• Alive is an adjective that answers the question "What is its state?" It almost always comes after the noun or pronoun it describes, usually with a verb like is, was, seems, feels.
• Live (/laɪv/) is an adjective that answers the question "What kind is it?" It always comes before the noun it describes.
• Live (/lɪv/) is also a verb that means "to reside" or "to exist."

Alive

Alive is a predicative adjective, meaning it comes after a linking verb (like is, am, are, was, were, feel, seem, look) and describes the subject. You cannot put alive directly before a noun.

For example:

After the cold winter, my plants are still alive.

He feels lucky to be alive.

Live (Adjective)

Live has two main meanings:

• Happening in real-time; not pre-recorded. (e.g., for performances, broadcasts).
• Not dead; not artificial. (e.g., for animals, objects).

It is an attributive adjective, meaning it always comes before the noun it describes.

For example:

The news reporter gave a live report from the scene.

The zoo has an exhibit with live snakes.

Live (Verb)

For example:

She live in New York City.

He lived a long and happy life.

Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago.

Summary

In a nutshell, if you are describing the state of something after a verb, use alive:

"The patient is... alive."

If you are describing the type of thing before the noun, use live:

"It was a... live show."