Usage Note
Sobrevivir is a compound of sobre- (over, above) + vivir (to live), following all regular -ir conjugations. It can be intransitive (sobrevivió = she survived) or take a to specify what was survived (sobrevivió al accidente = she survived the accident). The noun is sobreviviente or superviviente.
Examples
"Muchos civiles no sobrevivieron al terremoto."
Natural Translation
Many civilians did not survive the earthquake.

Free starter pack
Building your Spanish vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore Spanish by topic