Present
Presente · now, habits and facts
- yo I help yourself
- tú you help yourself
- usted, él, ella he/she helps yourself
- nosotros we help yourself
- vosotros Spain you all help yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they help yourself
SPANISH VERB
servirse
to help yourself
- #324 most used
- Irregular -ir verb
- Gerund: sirviéndose
- Past participle: servido
Conjugation
Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.
Past
Pretérito indefinido · finished actions
- yo I helped yourself
- tú you helped yourself
- usted, él, ella he/she helped yourself
- nosotros we helped yourself
- vosotros Spain you all helped yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they helped yourself
Imperfect
Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”
- yo I used to help yourself
- tú you used to help yourself
- usted, él, ella he/she used to help yourself
- nosotros we used to help yourself
- vosotros Spain you all used to help yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to help yourself
Future
Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common
- yo I will help yourself
- tú you will help yourself
- usted, él, ella he/she will help yourself
- nosotros we will help yourself
- vosotros Spain you all will help yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they will help yourself
Conditional
Condicional · “would”
- yo I would help yourself
- tú you would help yourself
- usted, él, ella he/she would help yourself
- nosotros we would help yourself
- vosotros Spain you all would help yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they would help yourself
Present subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”
- yo (that) I help yourself
- tú (that) you help yourself
- usted, él, ella (that) he/she help yourself
- nosotros (that) we help yourself
- vosotros Spain (that) you all help yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they help yourself
Past subjunctive
Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”
- yo (if) I helped yourself
- tú (if) you helped yourself
- usted, él, ella (if) he/she helped yourself
- nosotros (if) we helped yourself
- vosotros Spain (if) you all helped yourself
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they helped yourself
Imperative
Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)
- tú help yourself!
- usted help yourself! (formal)
- nosotros help yourself! (let’s)
- vosotros Spain help yourself! (all of you)
- ustedes help yourself! (all of you)
How to use servirse
One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.
-
Present
En casa de mi abuela cada quien se sirve solo.
At my grandma's house everyone helps themselves.
-
Past
Me serví dos veces porque el mole estaba delicioso.
I helped myself twice because the mole was delicious.
-
Imperfect
De niños nos servíamos el cereal sin pedir permiso.
As kids we helped ourselves to cereal without asking.
-
Future
¿Te servirás más arroz o ya estás lleno?
Will you have more rice or are you full?
-
Conditional
Yo me serviría otro taco, pero ya no cabe.
I'd help myself to another taco, but there's no room.
-
Present subjunctive
Quiero que se sirvan lo que gusten, por favor.
I want you all to help yourselves to whatever you like.
-
Past subjunctive
Mi tía insistió en que me sirviera más pastel.
My aunt insisted that I help myself to more cake.
-
Imperative
¡Sírvete, no tengas pena, hay mucha comida!
Help yourself, don't be shy, there's lots of food!
Good to know
- "Sírvete" is what a host says when the food is on the table: help yourself.
Where you hear servirse
The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.
Spanish · Intermediate Level 1
- Sírvanse lo que quieran. Help yourselves to whatever you like.
- Me serví tres veces. I helped myself three times.
- Ahora se van a servir el postre. Now you're going to help yourselves to dessert.
Verbs like this one
The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ir verb.