servir Present Conjugation
servir — to serve
Servir has an e > i stem change in all present forms except nosotros and vosotros: sirvo, sirves, sirve, servimos, servís, sirven.
servir Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about what someone's job involves, how a tool functions, or what is being served for dinner right now.
Notes on servir in the Present
This is a classic 'boot verb' where the 'e' in the stem changes to 'i' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Example Sentences
Yo sirvo la cena a las ocho.
I serve dinner at eight.
yo
Este cuchillo no sirve para cortar pan.
This knife doesn't work for cutting bread.
él/ella/usted
¿Nosotros servimos las bebidas ahora?
Do we serve the drinks now?
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: yo servo
Correct: yo sirvo
Why: Learners often forget the e > i stem change in the first person.
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Related Tenses
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.
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.