servía

Servía is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb servir. It is the first- and third-person singular imperfect indicative form: yo servía and él/ella/usted servía. Because the spelling is identical for those two subjects, the subject is often understood from context or clarified with a pronoun.

Etymology and meaning: servir comes from Latin servire, meaning to be of use or to serve. In Spanish, it broadly means to provide a service, to be of use, or to serve food and drinks in various settings.

Usage: The imperfect tense expresses past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or background without indicating a definite start or end. It is common in narration and description. For example: “Yo servía la cena cuando llegaron los invitados” describes an ongoing action in the past. “Antes, ella servía como guía turística” uses the imperfect to describe a past habitual role. The form can also appear in subordinate clauses: “Si me servía de algo, lo decía.” In all cases, the subject is typically clear from context.

Grammatical notes: The form does not vary by gender; the distinction is solely number and person in the verb form. Other forms of servir in the imperfect include tú servías, él servía, nosotros servíamos, vosotros servíais, ellos servían.