The essential guide to conjugating and using the

Servir (to serve.) Such a helpful French verb…well, not exactly. Because service goes both ways. Not only might you be served by someone or use something to help you accomplish a task; you may also be doing the serving or even be used (manipulated) by someone!

This dichotomy is also a way to remember that servir has another side when it comes to conjugation. Usually, it’s an irregular -ir verb conjugated with avoir, but it can become a reflexive verb, as well, and in that case, it’s conjugated with être. when it’s used as a reflexive verb, it’s meaning and the auxiliary verb that goes with it, changes.

Let’s dig a little deeper into servir, a verb that’s not always as obedient as you might think!

Servir conjugation

First, let’s start with the basics.

Here’s how to conjugate servir in the most common French verb tenses.

Present Passé Composé Imparfait je sers j’ai servi je servais tu sers tu as servi tu servais il/elle/on sert il/elle/on a servi il/elle/on servait nous servons nous avons servi nous servions vous servez vous avez servi vous serviez ils/elles servent ils/elles ont servi ils/elles servaient Future Conditional Subjunctive je servirai je servirais que je serve tu serviras tu servirais que tu serves il/elle/on servira il/elle/on servirait qu’ il/elle/on serve nous servirons nous servirions que nous servions vous servirrez vous serviriez que vous serviez ils/elles serviront ils/elles serviraient qu’ils/elles servent Imperative (Like some irregular verbs, the imperative form of être is based on its present subjunctive conjugation, not presents simple.) sers (tu) servons (nous) servez (vous)

**What does servir mean?**

As you may have guessed, servir means “to serve”.

For instance, Jeanne leur a servi du thé. (Jeanne served them some tea). Or the cliché, uber-polite phrase every French valet or waiter at a high-end restaurant is supposed to say (but usually doesn’t in real life): Monsieur est servi or Madame est servie.

There are some less common meanings of servir, but all of them fit into this general idea of serving someone something (servir quelque chose à quelqu’un). When you’re talking about specific food or drink, it’s easy to make a sentence with servir - just use the same article(s) to denote portion, gender, etc., as you would in most sentences.

So for instance: Ses parents ont servi du poisson pour le dîner ce soir. (His parents served fish for dinner tonight.)/ Dans ce restaurant, on te sert une madeleine faite maison avec le café. (At this restaurant, they serve a homemade madeleine with the coffee).

The word is also used in tennis, just like “serve” is in English.

But add a preposition or reflexive pronoun to servir, and things get a bit more complex.

Four common variants of servir

There are four common variants of servir that take on slightly different meanings:

servir à…. – to serve the purpose of…. Examples: À quoi sert cet appli ? (What purpose does this app serve?/What is this app for?) Cet appli sert à organiser les chansons que j’ai téléchargé sur mon portable. (This app organizes the music I’ve downloaded onto my phone.)

servir de… – to be used as…. Example: Un tiroir rempli de vêtements servait de lit de bebe. (A drawer flilled with clothing was used as the baby’s bed.)

se servir – to serve oneself. Example: Boucle d’Or se servit un peu de bouillie. (Goldilocks served herself some porridge.)

se servir de – to use someone or something to one’s advantage; to take advantage of…. This can also be used in a general way, to say someone used something to help them. Examples: Il s’est servi de moi pour se rapprocher de ma copine ! (He used me to get closer to my girlfriend!) /Jacques, qui est malvoyant, se sert d’un logiciel qui le permet de naviguer l’internet. (Jacques, who is visually impaired, uses special software to navigate the internet.)

Se servir conjugation

Because se servir and se servir de include a reflexive verb, they take être as an auxiliary verb, whereas plain old servir is conjugated with avoir. This means that when you use se servir in a compound tense, the participle has to agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here’s how to conjugate se servir in the most common French verb tenses.

Present simple Passé Composé Passé Imparfait je me sers je me suis servi(e) je me servais tu te sers tu t’es servi(e) tu te servais il/elle/on se sert il/elle/on s’est servi(e) il/elle/on se servait nous nous servons nous nous sommes servi(e)s nous nous servions vous vous servez vous vous êtes servi(e)(s) vous vous serviez ils/elles se servent ils/elles se sont servi(e)s ils/elles se servaient Future Conditional Subjunctive je me servirai je me servirais que je me serve tu te serviras tu te servirais que tu te serves il/elle/on se servira il/elle/on se servirait qu’ il/elle/on se serve nous nous servirons nous nous servirions que nous nous servions vous vous servirrez vous vous serviriez que vous vous serviez ils/elles se serviront ils/elles se serviraient qu’ils/elles se servent Imperative (Like some irregular verbs, the imperative form of être is based on its present subjunctive conjugation, not presents simple.) sers (tu) servons (nous) servez (vous)

Less common tenses of se servir

These verb tenses aren’t used as frequently in everyday spoken or written French, but they are useful to know – and in many cases, to use:

Plus-que-parfait je m’étais servi(e) tu t’étais servi(e) il/elle/on s’était servi(e) nous nous étions servi(e)s vous vous étiez servi(e)(s) ils/elles s’étaient servi(e)s Passé simple Passé antérieur je me servis je me fus servi(e) tu te servis tu te fus servi(e) il/elle/on se servit il/elle/on se fut servi(e) nous nous servîmes nous nous fûmes servi(e)s vous vous servîtes vous vous fûtes servi(e)(s) ils/elles se servirent ils/elles se furent servi(e)s Futur antérieur Futur proche je me serai servi(e) je vais me servir tu te seras servi(e) tu vas te servir il/elle/on se sera servi(e) il/elle/on va se servir nous nous serons servi(e)s nous allons nous servir vous vous serez servi(e)(s) vous allez vous servir ils/elles se seront servi(e)s ils/elles vont se servir Conditionnnel du passé je me serais servi(e) tu te serais servi(e) il/elle/on se serait servi(e) nous nous serions servi(e)s vous vous seriez servi(e)(s) ils/elles se seraient servi(e)s Passé du subjonctif Imparfait du subjonctif Plus-que-parfait du subjonctif je me sois servi(e) je me servisse je me fusse servi(e) tu te sois servi(e) tu te servisses tu te fusses servi(e) il/elle/on se soit servi(e) il/elle/on se servit il/elle/on se fût servi(e) nous nous soyons servi(e)s nous ayons nous servissions nous nous fussions servi(e)s vous vous soyez servi(e)(s) vous ayez vous servissiez vous vous fussiez servi(e)(s) ils/elles se soient servi(e)s ils/elles se servissent ils/elles se fussent servi(e)s

Some common phrases and expressions with servir

Now that we’ve covered the basics of servir (and se servir). Here are some phrases and expressions they’re commonly used with:

ne servir à rien – to be useless. Example: Ce stylo ne sert à rien, il n’a plus d’encre. (This pen is useless, it’s out of ink.). You can also use this with a person or animal, which is just as mean as it is in English.

ne servir à rien de… - it’s useless/pointless to/there’s no point in…. Examples: Il ne sert à rien de crier dans l’espace. Personne ne t’entendrait. (There’s no point in screaming in space. No one would hear you.)/ Ça ne sert à rien de pleurer, Marie, tu trouveras un mec bien mieux qu’Augustin ! (There’s no point in crying, Marie, you’ll find a guy who’s way better than Augustin!).

As you can see, you can use this phrase with Il or Ça. This is one of those complex issues in French, but essentially, the difference is that Ça tends to be a bit more informal/personal, and is also what we’d hear most often in everyday spoken French, while Il (as “It”) tends to be more formal or abstract.

se servir un verre – to serve oneself a drink.

servir de décor – to be eye candy or arm candy.

servir Dieu/l’Etat/un maître, etc. – to serve God/your country/a master, etc.

Monsieur est servi/Madame est servie – Dinner (or whatever meal it is) is served, sir/madam. This is an ultra-polite phrase that’s usually used as a joke or ironic comment rather than its intended context (unless the person talking to you is an old-fashioned butler or waiter). You can read more about it, including the etiquette of using “Monsieur” or “Madame” in a mixed group on this very interesting forum thread.

bien servir – to be very useful/to serve (someone) well. Example: La Carte du Maraudeur a bien servi Harry Potter et ses amis. (The Maurauder’s Map was very useful to Harry Potter and his friends.)

servir à quelque chose – to be worth something, to have a purpose, to amount to something. Example: Il espérait que tout ce temps passé en étudiant les habitudes des souris servirait à quelque chose. (He hoped that all of this time spent studying the habits of mice would amount to something.)

On n’est jamais mieux servi que par soi-même. - If you want something done right, do it yourself. This expression literally translates to: One is never served better than by oneself. There are a few very slight variations.

So, that's what you need to know about the verb servir. J’espère que cet article vous servira bien !