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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 !