In Spanish, you can use “mi vida” in multiple situations, and it will have different meanings depending on the context. Typically “mi vida” will be part of a longer sentence, but it can also be used as a standalone expression to define love.
"Mi vida" literally translates to "My life" in English, and it's typically use to express love or affection for someone. For example lovers can use "mi vida" to show romantic affection to each other. Similarly, a mother could use "mi vida" to refer to their children, in a very loving way.
The literal translation for “mi vida” is “my life”, but it could be used to say “my love”, “my darling” or “my everything”. It’s a short sentence to express high affection or love for someone.
Additionally, mi vida can be part of longer sentences like:
- Eres el amor de mi vida (“You’re the love of my life”)
- Eres mi vida (“You’re my life” / “You’re my everything”)
In all these common scenarios the intention is to express a high level of affection, love and caring.
The first word of the expression is “mi”, which is a pronoun to express ownership or possession. The second word is “vida”, a noun that means “life”.
How To Pronounce Mi Vida
Spanish language pronounces vowels different than English, since it’s a phonetic language. The Spanish vowel “i” is typically pronounced as the English equivalent of “ee”.
"Mi vida" is correctly pronounced like: mee veedah
Check down this audio of a native Spanish speaker pronouncing “mi vida”:
How To Use Mi Vida In A Sentence
We can use “mi vida” in any situation where we want to communicate our affection for someone else.
Let’s explore some hypothetical scenarios of times where using “mi vida” would be adequate:
Jose is Maria’s toddler, and he’s 3 years old. Jose is growing his first set of teeth and there are times that he feels pain. When those times come, he will burst to cry.
Maria sees her child crying and feels hopeless and empathetic. She may say:
– No llores Jose, mi vida (Don’t cry Jose, my life)
Example 1 of how to use “mi vida”
Another example:
Ana and Carlos are a couple. They have been dating for a long time. It’s Ana’s birthday and Carlos has a surprise for her.
Carlos gives Ana a birthday present. He may ask:
– ¿Te gusta, mi vida? (Do you like it, my love?)
Example 2 of how to use “mi vida”
Pssst! Don’t forget to check out our beginners Guide to learn Spanish here:
Mi Vida Used In Songs
There are countless examples of songs with “mi vida” in their lyrics. Sometimes these songs use “mi vida” as part of a longer sentence, which will the meaning of the sentences no longer mean an expression for love.
We have selected a couple of examples of songs that contain “mi vida” as a standalone expression.
The first example is the song Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) from the Colombian-born artist Shakira. The lyrics of the main chorus are as follows:
| Original lyric in Spanish | English translation |
|---|---|
| Contigo, mi vida, quiero vivir la vida Y lo que me queda de vida quiero vivir contigo | With you, my darling, I want to live And I want to spend the rest of my life with you |
Check it out at minute 0:42 of the song Suerte by Shakira:
Another example of lyrics containing the expression “mi vida” is the song Calma by Pedro Capó.
| Original lyric in Spanish | English translation |
|---|---|
| Calma, mi vida, con calma Que nada hace falta Si estamos juntitos andando Calma, mi vida, con calma Que nada hace falta Si andamos juntitos bailando | Relax, my love, relax We don’t need anything If we are walking together Relax, my love, relax We don’t need anything If we are dancing together |
Check it out at minute 2:54 of the song Calma by Pedro Capó:
Expressions Containing Mi Vida
As we’ve seen, there are many ways of using “mi vida” to express love or affection to close ones. There are other short expressions that also contain “mi vida” but they mean completely different things since they have words added to them.
Mi vida loca
One of the most famous expressions in movies and music is “mi vida loca”.
“Mi vida loca” literally translates to “my crazy life” in English. This Spanish expression is often used to describe a wild and crazy life.
This expression is composed by “mi” as a possessive pronoun, followed by the noun “vida” (“life” in English) and the adjective “loca” (“crazy” in English).
The term “mi vida loca” has appeared multiple times in films and songs in the past.
The Latin singer Ricky Martin released the song “Livin’ la vida loca” in 1999. The song went on to become a major success both in English and Spanish audiences across the world.
Similarly, the band The Black Eyed Peas published the song “Vida loca” in 2020. The hit received mainstream success and was played in radio stations all around the globe.
Por mi vida
The expression “por mi vida” is often used as a way of swearing. The sentence translates to “for my life” in English.
You can use “por mi vida” in the same situations where you would swear “on my life”. It means the person saying it is making a promise to be telling the truth. The promise of being the truth goes to the extreme in this case, and can be translated to “if I lie I should die”.
Let’s explore an imaginary example.
Felipe and Marina are a married couple. Felipe has been having some financial problems because of his gambling habit. Marina wants him to stop this behaviour.
Marina could make Felipe swear that he won’t gamble again:
– Felipe, prométeme que no apostaras más! (Felipe, promise me you won’t gamble again!)
– Por mi vida (On my own life)
Más que mi vida
“Más que mi vida” can be translated to “more than my own life”. This sentence may be used standalone to affirm something (typically love) in a very energic way.
The expression contains the word “más”, which translates to “more” in English, and is the most commonly used word in the Spanish language.
Grammatically, the sentence contains the adverb “más”, “que” as the preposition, “mi” as a possessive pronoun, and “vida” as the noun.
In times when the speaker wants to communicate that they love someone more than their own life.
Let’s imagine the following scenario:
Antonio and Cristina have been dating for quite a while. Their are going through a hard time together as a couple. Cristina is worried that Antonio has lost interest in her.
Cristina may ask Antonio:
– ¿Todavía me quieres? (Do you still love me?)
– Más que mi vida (More than my life)
Vida Mía
Lastly, this variation of the original expression “mi vida”.
“Vida mía” means exactly the same as “mi vida” and can be used alternatively. In any scenario where someone could use “mi vida”, this could be swapped by “vida mía”.
This expression means “my life” in English, and can also be used to communicate love or affection for someone. This can be both used for close family or lovers.
An example of usage would be as follows:
Pedro and Julia recently started dating. Their relationship is going great, and they often express their feelings.
Pedro may say the following:
– Julia, te quiero muchísimo, vida mía (Julia, I love you so much, my life)
