Analysis on the differences and usage of alive, live, lively and living in adjective part-of-speech tenses

⑴ lively has the meaning of "lively, cheerful, vivid", etc. It can refer to people or things, and can be used as an attributive or slogan; but it does not mean "alive", while the other three have .

For example:

Young children are usually lively.

Little children are usually lively.

He told a very lively story.

He told a very lively story.

⑵alive, live, and living all have the meaning of "alive, alive", which is the opposite meaning of dead. But live is usually only used as a prefix attributive, and is generally used for animals; alive and living can not only be used as attributives (alive can only be placed after the noun; living is usually placed before the noun, but can also be placed after the noun), but can also be used as expressions language.

For example:

This is a live(=living) fish.(=This is a fish alive.)

This is a live fish. (Referring to animals, and when used as an attributive, all three can be used)

Who's the greatest man alive(=living man)?

Who is the greatest man alive today? (Referring to people, live cannot be used)

The fish is still alive (=living)

The fish is still alive. (Live cannot be used when referring to animals as predicates).

⑶living mainly refers to being alive at a certain time, while alive refers to being alive despite the possibility of death. Moreover, when making a subject complement or an object complement, you can only use alive; when making a metaphorical meaning (such as "living like...", "living", etc.), you must use living.

For example:

The enemy officer was caught alive. (as a subject complement, without living)

The enemy officer was caught alive.

We found the snake alive. (as an object complement, without living)

He is the living image of his father. (metaphorically, without alive)

He looks just like his father.

⑷Only adding "the" before "living" can mean "living people". When used as the subject, it is regarded as plural.

For example:

The living are more important to us than the dead.

The living are more important to us than the dead.

Reference materials: /doc/Grammar/504_190.htm