Translation guide
The English verb 'survive' covers several related ideas: staying alive through danger, continuing to exist over time, and managing to get by in difficult situations. Japanese expresses these with different verbs and patterns depending on the nuance.
To remain alive after an accident, disaster, illness, or life-threatening situation.
The most direct equivalent for 'survive' in the sense of not dying when others might have. Often used for surviving disasters, battles, etc.
彼はその事故で生き残った。
He survived the accident.
地震で生き残った人々
people who survived the earthquake
Intransitive verb meaning 'to be saved' or 'to survive'. Focuses on the outcome of being spared. Very common in spoken Japanese.
奇跡的に助かった。
Miraculously, I survived.
彼は一命を取り留めた。
He barely survived (escaped death).
Emphasizes prolonging life or enduring through hardship. Often used for surviving in extreme conditions.
彼らは冬を生き延びた。
They survived the winter.
For customs, traditions, languages, organizations, etc., to remain in existence over time.
Formal term for 'continue to exist', used for institutions, systems, or abstract things.
その伝統は今も存続している。
That tradition still survives today.
Common verb meaning 'to remain'. Can be used for things that survive the passage of time.
古い習慣がまだ残っている。
Old customs still survive.
Can be used metaphorically for non-living things that persist, but sounds slightly personified.
To cope with difficult circumstances, especially having just enough money or resources.
A very common phrase meaning 'to manage somehow', 'to get by'. Used for financial or life struggles.
少ない収入でなんとかやっていく。
I survive on a small income.
Literally 'connect eating', meaning to barely make a living, survive from hand to mouth.
彼は日雇い仕事で食いつないでいる。
He survives by doing day labor.
To live through, to endure and survive a difficult period. Stronger nuance of perseverance.
To live longer than another person, often a family member.
Can be used for outliving someone, but often requires context.
彼は妻より長く生き残った。
He survived his wife.
Pattern meaning 'to live longer than ~'. More precise for outliving.
彼女は夫より10年長生きした。
She survived her husband by 10 years.
While 生き残る is the direct translation, it often sounds too dramatic or literal for everyday situations like 'surviving a boring meeting' or 'surviving on a budget'. Use なんとかやっていく or other phrases for non-life-threatening contexts.
助かる is intransitive and focuses on the result of being saved or spared. 生き残る is more active and emphasizes remaining alive among others who died. 助かる is more common in casual speech for 'I survived!'.
飛行機事故で生き残ったのは2人だけだった。
Only two people survived the plane crash.
この給料ではやっていけない。
I can't survive on this salary.
その会社は不況を乗り切った。
The company survived the recession.
乗り切る means 'to weather' or 'to ride out', a common way to say a business survived a crisis.
その言葉は現代に生き残っている。
That word survives in modern times.
the generation that survived the war