servir Preterite Conjugation
servir — to serve
In the preterite, servir only changes e > i in the third-person forms: sirvió and sirvieron.
servir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use this to describe a completed action in the past, like a waiter serving a specific meal or a machine that stopped working at a specific moment.
Notes on servir in the Preterite
The stem change e > i only occurs in the third-person singular (él/ella/usted) and plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes). All other forms follow regular -ir patterns.
Example Sentences
El camarero nos sirvió la comida muy rápido.
The waiter served us the food very quickly.
él/ella/usted
Ayer servimos una cena especial para cien personas.
Yesterday we served a special dinner for a hundred people.
nosotros
Ellos sirvieron el postre después del café.
They served dessert after the coffee.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: él servió
Correct: él sirvió
Why: It is common to forget the e > i stem change in the third person singular of the preterite.
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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.
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.