servir Imperfect Conjugation
servir — to serve
The imperfect of servir is completely regular: servía, servías, servía, servíamos, servíais, servían.
servir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe how things used to work or what used to be served habitually in the past.
Notes on servir in the Imperfect
Servir is fully regular in the imperfect. There are no stem changes (no 'i') in this tense.
Example Sentences
Antes, esta máquina servía para todo.
Before, this machine used to serve for everything.
él/ella/usted
En ese hotel siempre servían el desayuno temprano.
In that hotel they always served breakfast early.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Tú servías café todos los domingos.
You used to serve coffee every Sunday.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: sirvía
Correct: servía
Why: Learners incorrectly apply the present tense stem change to the imperfect.
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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.
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.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sirve
The imperative of servir uses 'sirve' for tú and 'sirva' for usted, with 'servid' being the only form without the 'i' change.
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.