servir Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
servir — to serve
The imperative of servir uses 'sirve' for tú and 'sirva' for usted, with 'servid' being the only form without the 'i' change.
servir Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give orders to a waiter, to tell someone to serve a dish, or to tell someone to 'be useful'.
Notes on servir in the Affirmative Imperative
The tú form 'sirve' matches the present indicative third person. The vosotros form 'servid' is regular (remove -r, add -d).
Example Sentences
¡Sirve la sopa antes de que se enfríe!
Serve the soup before it gets cold!
tú
Sirva usted el vino, por favor.
Serve the wine, please (formal).
usted
Sirvamos los aperitivos ahora.
Let's serve the appetizers now.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: sirve (for usted)
Correct: sirva
Why: Using the tú form command when a formal usted command is required.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: sirvo
Servir has an e > i stem change in all present forms except nosotros and vosotros: sirvo, sirves, sirve, servimos, servís, sirven.
Preterite
yo: serví
In the preterite, servir only changes e > i in the third-person forms: sirvió and sirvieron.
Imperfect
yo: servía
The imperfect of servir is completely regular: servía, servías, servía, servíamos, servíais, servían.
Future
yo: serviré
The future of servir is regular: attach -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: serviría
The conditional of servir is regular: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: sirva
The present subjunctive of servir uses the 'i' stem change in ALL forms: sirva, sirvas, sirva, sirvamos, sirváis, sirvan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: sirviera
The imperfect subjunctive of servir is based on the preterite 'sirvieron' stem: sirviera, sirvieras, sirviera, etc.
Negative Imperative
yo: no sirvas
The negative imperative of servir uses the present subjunctive forms: no sirvas, no sirva, no sirvamos, no sirváis, no sirvan.