生きねば

must live, have to live

→ 生きる

生き to live; to be alive + ね Negation + ば Conditional (“if”)

verb Rare #41,177

must live, have to live Usually used before ならない, ならん, or なりません to express necessity; this construction is somewhat formal.

JA: まだ生きねばならない。

EN: I still have to live.

Conjugation of 生きる

Necessitative

But this child must live…

— バーフバリ伝説誕生 (2015)

Then I must go on living.

— The Wind Rises (2013)

You must live.

— The Wind Rises (2013)

We must live in the present, not in the past.