Languages › French Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Servir' Share Flipboard Email Print Thomas Barwick / Getty Images French Vocabulary Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar Resources For Teachers By ThoughtCo Updated January 06, 2020 Servir ("to serve," "to be useful") is an irregular French -ir verb. Below are the simple conjugations of the verb servir. They do not include the compound tenses, which consist of a form of the auxiliary verb with the past participle. Within irregular -ir verb conjugations, there are some patterns. Two groups exhibit similar characteristics and conjugation patterns. Then there is a final, large category of extremely irregular -ir verbs that follow no pattern. Servir Is Irregular Servir lies in the first group of irregular -ir verbs that display a pattern. It includes dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir, and all of their derivatives, such as repartir. All of these verbs share this characteristic: They all drop the last letter of the stem in the singular conjugations. For instance, the first-person singular of servir is je sers (no v) and the first-person plural is nous servons (retains the v from the stem). The more you recognize these patterns, the easier it will be to remember conjugations. Conjugation Generally speaking, most French verbs ending in -mir, -tir, or -vir are conjugated this way. Such verbs include: dormir: to sleependormir: to put / send to sleepredormir: to sleep some morerendormir: to put back to sleepdépartir: to accordpartir: to leaverepartir: to restart, set off againconsentir: to consentpressentir: to have a premonitionressentir: to feel, sensesentir: to feel, to smellmentir: to liese repentir: to repentsortir: to go outservir: to serve, to be useful Expressions and Usage Servir quelqu'un de / en quelque chose.: To serve somebody with something / To serve something to somebody.C'est difficile de se faire servir ici.: It's difficult to get served here.Sers le café.: Pour the coffee.Puis-je te servir du poulet?: Can I serve you some chicken?Le dîner est servi!: Dinner is ready / Served!Sers-moi à boire.: Give / pour me a drink.Ils nous servent toujours les mêmes histoires aux informations.: They always dish out the same old stories on the news.Servir la patrie / une cause: To serve country or a causeOn n'est jamais si bien servi que par soi-même. (proverb): If you want something done right, do it yourself.Servir les intérêts d'une dette: To service a debtservir la messe: To say / hold massIl a servi, ce manteau!: I got a lot of use out of this coat!Ça n'a jamais servi.: It's never been used.À toi de servir. (tennis): Your serve.servir à: To be used forÇa ne sert à rien de lui en parler.: It's useless to talk to him / It's no use talking to him about it.Crier ne sert à rien.: There's no point in shouting.servir de: to act as, to beJe lui ai servi d'interprète.: I acted as his interpreter.se servir [pronominal reflexive]: to help oneselfServez-vous de / en légumes.: Help yourself to vegetables.Je me suis servi un verre de lait.: I poured myself a glass of milk.se servir [pronominal passive]: to be servedLe vin rouge se sert chambré.: Red wine should be served at room temperature.se servir de quelque chose: to use somethingIl ne peut plus se servir de son bras droit.: He can't use his right arm anymore.C'est une arme dont on ne se sert plus.: It's a weapon that is no longer used / in use.se servir de quelque chose comme: to use something asse servir de quelqu'un: to make use of / to use somebody Conjugations Tables Present Future Imperfect Present participle je sers servirai servais servant tu sers serviras servais il sert servira servait nous servons servirons servions vous servez servirez serviez ils servent serviront servaient Passé composé Auxiliary verb avoir Past participle servi Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation ThoughtCo. "Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Servir'." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/servir-to-be-useful-1370890. ThoughtCo. (2020, August 26). Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Servir'. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/servir-to-be-useful-1370890 ThoughtCo. "Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Servir'." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/servir-to-be-useful-1370890 (accessed January 24, 2021). copy citation