Servir preterite conjugation
Servir in the preterite: serví, serviste, sirvió, servimos, servisteis, sirvieron.
- to serve; to be useful; to work (for)
- stem-changing (e→i)
- Participle: servido
- Gerund: sirviendo
Preterite pretérito
| yo | serví |
|---|---|
| tú | serviste |
| él/ella/usted | sirvió |
| nosotros | servimos |
| vosotros | servisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | sirvieron |
How to use servir in the preterite
In the preterite, only the third person has i: sirvió, sirvieron. The other forms keep the e: serví, serviste, servimos. Use it for a meal or drink that was served (nos sirvieron vino) and to say whether something turned out to be useful: el curso me sirvió mucho. No sirvió de nada means 'it was no use at all'. A common mistake is servió; the correct form is sirvió.
Examples
El curso de Excel me sirvió muchísimo.
The Excel course was really useful to me.
Nos sirvieron un ceviche buenísimo.
They served us an amazing ceviche.
Le grité, pero no sirvió de nada.
I yelled at him, but it was no use.
Quick check: servir in the preterite
More servir tenses
- All servir tenses
- Servir present
- Servir imperfect
- Servir future
- Servir conditional
- Servir present subjunctive
- Servir affirmative commands
Other verbs in the preterite
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