Servire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

servire — to serve — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, regular -ire verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to serve food and to serve someone, and it takes avere in the passato prossimo in the tables on this page — io ho servito — as in serving dinner. When servire means to be of use, as in 'it was useful for something', Italian uses essere instead, so the meaning decides the auxiliary. On this page you will find servire in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the servire conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the servire passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with servire

In the present tense

  • “Io servo la cena ogni giorno.” — “I serve dinner”
  • “Tu servi la cena ogni giorno.” — “You serve dinner”
  • “Lui serve la cena ogni giorno.” — “He serves dinner”
  • “Noi serviamo la cena ogni giorno.” — “We serve dinner”
  • “Voi servite la cena ogni giorno.” — “You serve dinner”
  • “Loro servono la cena ogni giorno.” — “They serve dinner”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho servito la cena questa settimana.” — “I have served dinner”
  • “Tu hai servito la cena questa settimana.” — “You have served dinner”
  • “Lui ha servito la cena questa settimana.” — “He has served dinner”
  • “Noi abbiamo servito la cena questa settimana.” — “We have served dinner”
  • “Voi avete servito la cena questa settimana.” — “You have served dinner”
  • “Loro hanno servito la cena questa settimana.” — “They have served dinner”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Io servivo la cena una volta.” — “I used to serve dinner”
  • “Tu servirai la cena domani.” — “You will serve dinner”
  • “Lui servirebbe la cena un giorno.” — “He would serve dinner”
  • “È importante che noi serviamo la cena.” — “It is important that we serve dinner”
  • “Servi la cena!” — “Serve dinner!”

How servire is used

The first thing to know about servire is its core meaning: to serve. It means to serve food and to serve someone, and it takes avere in the passato prossimo in the tables on this page — io ho servito — as in serving dinner. When servire means to be of use, as in 'it was useful for something', Italian uses essere instead, so the meaning decides the auxiliary. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the passato prossimo, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company servire keeps. The present io form is servo, and it pairs naturally with the time words ogni giorno and sempre for habits, and with adesso for what is happening right now. The passato prossimo io form is ho servito, and it pairs with ieri and questa settimana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what servire does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need servo, never servire. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho servito, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle servito is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Servire in context

Io servo la cena ogni giorno. Tu servi la cena ogni giorno. Lui serve la cena ogni giorno. Noi serviamo la cena ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of servire is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — servo, servi, serve, serviamo — while the meaning stays the same: to serve. Io ho servito la cena questa settimana. Tu hai servito la cena questa settimana. Lui ha servito la cena questa settimana. Noi abbiamo servito la cena questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of servire appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to serve — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Io servire la cena.”

✓ Right: “Io servo la cena ogni giorno.”

The infinitive servire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form servo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io servi la cena.”

✓ Right: “Io servo la cena ogni giorno.”

servi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is servo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io servo la cena ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho servito la cena questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho servito here, not the present servo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono servito la cena.”

✓ Right: “Io ho servito la cena questa settimana.”

servire takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho servito — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on servire across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of servire in the Present indicative?

    • A) servo
    • B) servi
    • C) serve
    • D) serviamo

  2. What is the io form of servire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai servito
    • B) ha servito
    • C) ho servito
    • D) abbiamo servito

  3. What is the lui/lei form of servire in the Imperfect?

    • A) servivo
    • B) servivi
    • C) servivamo
    • D) serviva

  4. What is the noi form of servire in the Future?

    • A) serviremo
    • B) servirò
    • C) servirai
    • D) servirà

  5. What is the tu form of servire in the Conditional?

    • A) servirei
    • B) serviresti
    • C) servirebbe
    • D) serviremmo

  6. What is the io form of servire in the Passato remoto?

    • A) servisti
    • B) servì
    • C) servii
    • D) servimmo

  7. What is the noi form of servire in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) serva
    • B) serviate
    • C) servano
    • D) serviamo

  8. What is the gerund of servire?

    • A) servendo
    • B) servito
    • C) servire
    • D) servo

  9. What is the past participle of servire?

    • A) servendo
    • B) servito
    • C) servire
    • D) servo

  10. What does servire mean in English?

  • A) to sit down
  • B) to get dressed
  • C) to serve
  • D) to call

Answer key

  1. B) servi — the correct form is servi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho servito — the correct form is ho servito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) serviva — the correct form is serviva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) serviremo — the correct form is serviremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) serviresti — the correct form is serviresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) servii — the correct form is servii. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) serviamo — the correct form is serviamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) servendo — the correct form is servendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) servito — the correct form is servito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to serve — the correct form is to serve. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does servire mean in English?

servire means “to serve”. You use it whenever you talk about to serve in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.

Is servire regular or irregular?

servire is regular. servire is regular: every form follows the standard -ire endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of servire?

The gerund is servendo and the past participle is servito. The perfect tenses use avere + servito.

Where can I see the full conjugation of servire?

On the servire conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The servire passato prossimo tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for servire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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