russian word
to serve in Russian: служить
verbimperfectivelevel B1#850 by frequency
every form stress-marked · levels from the official TORFL lexical minimum
Мой брат служит в армии уже второй год. My brother has been serving in the army for the second year now.
Он много лет служил в полиции. He served in the police for many years.
Этот старый чемодан служит нам столиком. This old suitcase serves us as a little table.
Его пример служит уроком для всех нас. His example serves as a lesson for all of us.
What does служить mean in Russian?
01
to serve (in the military or in a job/duty)
Aspect pair
This verb is imperfective: ongoing or repeated action. Its perfective partner, for a completed one-time result, is
послужитьto serve (work for a period); to do a stint of serviceperfective
Conjugation of служить
Stress marks show the stressed vowel; it moves between forms more often than learners expect.
| present | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| я / мы | служу | служим |
| ты / вы | служишь | служите |
| он / они | служит | служат |
| past | |
|---|---|
| masc | служил |
| fem | служила |
| neut | служило |
| plural | служили |
| imperative | |
|---|---|
| ты | служи |
| вы | служите |
Participles and gerunds
present activeслужащий
past activeслуживший
gerund (imperfective)служа
gerund (perfective)служив
gerund (perfective)служивши