To Live
To Be Alive, To Exist
intransitive verb, ichidan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means "life," making this word mean "to live."
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use a kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn the い reading with this kanji though, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
What does it mean to live? Life is pretty icky (いき ... the き comes from the hiragana part), but you have to take that ickiness and roll with it if you want to have a good life... if you want to live!
このジェネレーションを生きる人々にメッセージはありますか?
Do you have a message for people living in this generation?
わたしのおじいちゃんは百才まで生きました。
My grandpa lived to be one hundred years old.
あした休みじゃないなんて、生きる元気がなくなりそうだよ。
I can't believe I'm not off tomorrow; I may lose my will to live.