deservir

Deservir is a French verb that can appear in two closely related spellings, each with a different meaning: desservir and déservir. They are distinct verbs, not simply variants of the same word, and they should be kept separate in usage.

Desservir means to provide service to a place or to make a location accessible by a transportation network. It is commonly used for public transit and infrastructure: a bus line that serves a district, a station that services several lines, or a facility that serves a population. Examples include: la ligne desservit les gares centrales, et le quartier est desservi par trois lignes de bus. Desservir can also be used more broadly to indicate that a service reaches or benefits a place or people.

Déservir means to deprive of service or to remove a service, often implying that access has been reduced or cut off. It is used when services are diminished, halted, or no longer available to a location. Example: un quartier déservi par certaines lignes après la réorganisation du réseau, ou la fermeture qui désservit temporairement le musée. In everyday language, déservir tends to convey a loss or absence of service, rather than the act of providing it.

Conjugation and form: both verbs are regular -ir verbs. The past participles are desservi (for desservir) and déservi (for déservir). They share similarities in construction with other -ir verbs, while their meanings remain distinct.

In summary, desservir refers to supplying or maintaining service to a location, whereas déservir denotes the removal or lack of service. Correct usage hinges on choosing the spelling that matches the intended sense.