servire — Italian conjugation
to serve
Indicative
Present (Presente) Regular
The presente covers habits, ongoing situations, and plans about to start — much like English “I study” and “I am studying”. One present tense does both in Italian.
Lavora da casa tre giorni a settimana.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | servo | I serve |
| tu | servi | you serve |
| lui/lei | serve | he/she/it serves |
| noi | serviamo | we serve |
| voi | servite | you (pl.) serve |
| loro | servono | they serve |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Regular
The passato remoto tells a completed, narrative past, especially in the south and in literature. The passato prossimo is the normal spoken past in the north, so you choose register and region, not a difference in time alone.
Quella sera arrivò tardi, senza alibi.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | servii | I served |
| tu | servisti | you served |
| lui/lei | servì | he/she/it served |
| noi | servimmo | we served |
| voi | serviste | you (pl.) served |
| loro | servirono | they served |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Regular
The imperfetto is for incomplete past actions, context, and repeated or habitual situations without a clear end. The passato prossimo, not the remoto, is its usual “event” partner in speech.
Da bambina passavo le estati al mare.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | servivo |
| tu | servivi |
| lui/lei | serviva |
| noi | servivamo |
| voi | servivate |
| loro | servivano |
Conditional (Condizionale) Regular
The condizionale is for polite “would you…”, first-condition hypotheticals, and reported future from a past point of view. The classic if-chain is se + imperfetto → condizionale.
Potresti alzare un poco la voce?
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | servirei | I would serve |
| tu | serviresti | you would serve |
| lui/lei | servirebbe | he/she/it would serve |
| noi | serviremmo | we would serve |
| voi | servireste | you (pl.) would serve |
| loro | servirebbero | they would serve |
Future (Futuro semplice) Regular
The futuro semplice is for predictions and far decisions. In speech you often hear the present (with a time adverb) or a paraphrase, and a famous trick is the futuro di probabilità for a present guess: saranno le tre.
Domani partiremo all'alba.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | servirò | I will serve |
| tu | servirai | you will serve |
| lui/lei | servirà | he/she/it will serve |
| noi | serviremo | we will serve |
| voi | servirete | you (pl.) will serve |
| loro | serviranno | they will serve |
Present perfect (Passato prossimo) Regular
The passato prossimo is the workhorse preterit-like past in the north and in everyday Italian: avere/essere + participle, essere for reflexives, motion, and other change-of-state patterns.
Siamo andati a piedi, poi abbiamo preso l'autobus.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | sono servito/a | I have served |
| tu | sei servito/a | you have served |
| lui/lei | è servito/a | he/she/it has served |
| noi | siamo serviti/e | we have served |
| voi | siete serviti/e | you (pl.) have served |
| loro | sono serviti/e | they have served |
Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo) Regular
The trapassato prossimo is “further in the past than another past” — the Italian pluperfect. It pairs with a main past clause to mark sequence.
Avevamo già mangiato quando suonò il telefono.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ero servito/a | I had served |
| tu | eri servito/a | you had served |
| lui/lei | era servito/a | he/she/it had served |
| noi | eravamo serviti/e | we had served |
| voi | eravate serviti/e | you (pl.) had served |
| loro | erano serviti/e | they had served |
Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato) Regular
The condizionale passato is for unreal or missed past results and often appears with se + trapassato prossimo in the protasis.
Avrei accettato, se mi avessero avvisato in tempo.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | sarei servito/a |
| tu | saresti servito/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe servito/a |
| noi | saremmo serviti/e |
| voi | sareste serviti/e |
| loro | sarebbero serviti/e |
Future perfect (Futuro anteriore) Regular
The futuro anteriore says something will already be over before a still-later future, or, like the French, can express a logical guess about a past result.
Entro le cinque, avrà già lasciato l'ufficio.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | sarò servito/a | I will have served |
| tu | sarai servito/a | you will have served |
| lui/lei | sarà servito/a | he/she/it will have served |
| noi | saremo serviti/e | we will have served |
| voi | sarete serviti/e | you (pl.) will have served |
| loro | saranno serviti/e | they will have served |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Regular
The congiuntivo presente is required after many verbs and fixed phrases of will, fear, purpose, and doubt. Impersonal and semi-impersonal triggers (è importante che) also force the subjunctive mood.
Penso che sia la scelta giusta.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | serva |
| tu | serva |
| lui/lei | serva |
| noi | serviamo |
| voi | serviate |
| loro | servano |
Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto) Regular
The congiuntivo imperfetto is the past of the congiuntivo system after a past matrix clause and in se + congi. imperf. → condizionale with unreal conditions.
Se avessi più tempo, viaggerei ogni mese.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | servissi |
| tu | servissi |
| lui/lei | servisse |
| noi | servissimo |
| voi | serviste |
| loro | servissero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Regular
The affirmative imperativo reuses the tu form as 3sg for -are verbs, while other conjugations use the normal tu present. It is the direct command register.
Raccontami com'è andata l'esame.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | servi |
| lui/lei | serva |
| noi | serviamo |
| voi | servite |
| loro | servano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
Negative commands use non + full infinitive in modern Italian, which is a distinctive rule compared to other Romance languages. Polite or indirect “please don’t” can still soften the tone in context.
Non aprire quella finestra, per favore.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non servire |
| lui/lei | non serva |
| noi | non serviamo |
| voi | non servite |
| loro | non servano |