Servir conjugation chart
Servir present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I serve | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you serve | |
| vos | you serve | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she serves | |
| nosotros | we serve | |
| vosotros | you all serve | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they serve |
The highlighted forms change their stem. Notice that nosotros, vosotros and vos stay out: draw a line around the forms that change and you get a boot, which is why these are called “boot verbs.”
Servir preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I served | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you served | |
| vos | you served | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she served | |
| nosotros | we served | |
| vosotros | you all served | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they served |
Irregular in él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): sirvió, sirvieron…; the other forms are regular.
Servir imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I used to serve | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you used to serve | |
| vos | you used to serve | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she used to serve | |
| nosotros | we used to serve | |
| vosotros | you all used to serve | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they used to serve |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Servir future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will serve | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will serve | |
| vos | you will serve | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will serve | |
| nosotros | we will serve | |
| vosotros | you all will serve | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will serve |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Servir conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would serve | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would serve | |
| vos | you would serve | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would serve | |
| nosotros | we would serve | |
| vosotros | you all would serve | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would serve |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Servir present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I serve | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you serve | |
| vos | that you serve | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she serve | |
| nosotros | that we serve | |
| vosotros | that you all serve | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they serve |
Irregular stem sirv- (from the yo form sirvo) + -a, -as, -amos, -áis, -an.
Servir imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I served | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you served | |
| vos | if you served | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she served | |
| nosotros | if we served | |
| vosotros | if you all served | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they served |
Irregular stem sirvi- + -era, -eras, -éramos, -erais, -eran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (sirviese), more common in writing.
Servir affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | serve! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | serve! | |
| usted | serve! | |
| nosotros | let's serve! | |
| vosotros | serve! | |
| ustedes | serve! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: sirve. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (sirva, sirvamos, sirvan).
Servir negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't serve! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't serve! | |
| usted | don't serve! | |
| nosotros | let's not serve! | |
| vosotros | don't serve! | |
| ustedes | don't serve! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + sirvas, sirva…
Always the verb haber + the past participle servido, which never changes.
Servir present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he servido |
|---|---|
| tú | has servido |
| vos | has servido |
| él, ella, usted | ha servido |
| nosotros | hemos servido |
| vosotros | habéis servido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han servido |
Servir pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había servido |
|---|---|
| tú | habías servido |
| vos | habías servido |
| él, ella, usted | había servido |
| nosotros | habíamos servido |
| vosotros | habíais servido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían servido |
Servir future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré servido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás servido |
| vos | habrás servido |
| él, ella, usted | habrá servido |
| nosotros | habremos servido |
| vosotros | habréis servido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán servido |
Servir conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría servido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías servido |
| vos | habrías servido |
| él, ella, usted | habría servido |
| nosotros | habríamos servido |
| vosotros | habríais servido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían servido |
Servir present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya servido |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas servido |
| vos | hayas servido |
| él, ella, usted | haya servido |
| nosotros | hayamos servido |
| vosotros | hayáis servido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan servido |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
Servir is “to serve,” but just as often it means “to be useful”: ¿para qué sirve? is “what's it for?” And no sirve means it doesn't work.
Examples with servir
¿Para qué sirve esto?
What is this for?
Este cargador no sirve.
This charger doesn't work.
¿Te sirvo más café?
Can I pour you more coffee?
Practice servir
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like servir
Stem change e → i (servir → sirves). Same pattern:
decir dicespedir pidesrepetir repitesseguir siguesconseguir consigueselegir eliges