servir Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
servir — to serve
The imperfect subjunctive of servir is based on the preterite 'sirvieron' stem: sirviera, sirvieras, sirviera, etc.
servir Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for hypothetical situations or past requests, like 'if this worked...' or 'he asked that I serve...'
Notes on servir in the Imperfect Subjunctive
Because the preterite third-person plural is 'sirvieron', the 'i' stem change carries through all forms of the imperfect subjunctive.
Example Sentences
Si esta llave sirviera, podríamos entrar.
If this key worked, we could go in.
él/ella/usted
Me pidió que yo sirviera las bebidas.
He asked me to serve the drinks.
yo
Si sirviéramos la cena ahora, se enfriaría.
If we served dinner now, it would get cold.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: serviera
Correct: sirviera
Why: Learners often forget to use the irregular preterite stem (sirv-) as the base for this tense.
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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.
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.