How to use the verb “servire”: Italian grammar lesson 92

Summary

Unlock the versatility of the Italian verb servire! This guide will teach you how to conjugate it across tenses and use it to express needs, utility, and purpose in everyday Italian. 🇮🇹✨

  • Conjugation is key: Master the present, imperfect, present perfect, and future simple tenses of servire to accurately describe needs in various contexts.
  • Expressing needs: Use servire like piacere to say what you need. The verb agrees with the object needed, not the subject. Say “Mi serve” for “I need” when it’s about things, not actions.
  • Alternative to avere bisogno di: Switch up your language game by using servire instead of the more common phrase for “to need.” It adds a layer of fluency to your Italian!
  • Compound tenses: In tenses like passato prossimo, servire takes essere as its auxiliary and means “to be useful.” Remember to match the participle’s ending with the object’s gender and number.
  • Describing purpose: Explain what something is used for with servire plus a or per, followed by an infinitive verb. For instance, “serve per servire” means “it’s used for serving.”
  • It’s all about context: Whether you’re talking about needing a new suitcase or a ladle for soup, servire adapts to your sentence. It’s a chameleon verb that’s super handy!
  • Uselessness: When something’s not helpful at all, drop the knowledge bomb with “Non serve a niente” to declare it utterly useless. 💥

My thoughts

What is the meaning of servire in Italian?

Servire is a regular verb of the third conjugation –ire. In this lesson, we will learn how to use it to express needs.

First of all, however, let’s look at its conjugation in presente (present), imperfetto (imperfect), passato prossimo (present perfect), and futuro (future simple).

Presente  
io servo
tu servi
lui, lei, Lei serve
noi serviamo
voi servite
loro, Loro servono
Imperfetto  
io servivo
tu servivi
lui, lei, Lei serviva
noi servivamo
voi servivate
loro, Loro servivano​
Futuro Semplice  
io servirò
tu servirai
lui, lei, Lei servirà
noi serviremo
voi servirete
loro, Loro serviranno​

When does servire expresses needs?

In Italian, there are different ways of talking about things we need. For example, you might already be familiar with the expression avere bisogno di, to need or be in need of:

Ho bisogno di due melanzane per preparare il sugo.

I need two aubergines to prepare the sauce.

Another way of talking about something we need is by using the verb servire a, which literally means to serve.

In this case, the verb will be used with the same construction as piacere, to like.

Let’s look at some examples:

Mi serve una valigia nuova, la mia si è rotta.

I need a new luggage, mine broke.

Ti serve questo libro per l’esame?

Do you need this book for the exam?

Ci servono due chili di pasta per la cena di stasera.

We need two kilos of pasta for tonight’s dinner.

Did you notice? The verb is conjugated according to the object needed, rather than the subject of the action, and the personal pronoun changes according to who needs it.

With this construction, servire means to need, to have the necessity for something, and it is mostly used with nouns.

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In compound tenses, like the passato prossimoit takes the auxiliary verb essere (to be) and it can mean: to be useful.

Ti sono serviti i miei appunti?

Were my notes useful to you?

Remember, with this construction used in compound tenses that take essere the ending of the participle will need to agree in gender and number with the object you’re talking about.

Mi sono servite molto le tue ricette.

Your recipes were very useful to me.

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

What other meanings servire has?

Servire can also be used for describing what something is used for.

In this case, the verb will be conjugated as usual, according to the subject, and will be followed by the preposition a or per and a verb in the infinitive (infinito):

A che cosa serve l’olio di cocco?

What do you use coconut oil for?

Un mestolo serve per servire le zuppe.

A ladle is used to serve soup.

Non serve a niente.

It is useless.

What is the meaning of "servire"?

"Servire" is a regular verb of the third conjugation -ire used to express needs.

When does "servire" expresses needs?

With the expression "avere bisogno di" (to need or be in need of), when using the verb "servire" with nouns (to serve and to need), and in compound tenses, when it takes the auxiliary verb "essere" (to be) and it means to be useful.

What other meanings "servire" has?

It can be used for describing what something is used for by using the prepositions "a" or "per" and a verb in the infinitive.

Italian word of the day
bottiglie
Example
Colleziono bottiglie. Non sai proprio cosa fare, eh?
I collect bottles. You just don’t know what to do, huh?
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