desservir

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.sɛʁ.viʁ/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French deservir, from Latin dēservīre.

Verb

desservir

1. (religion, transitive) to serve (be the pastor of a church)
2. (of a transit service or other public service or similar) to serve, to have as or in its catchment area

   Ce train dessert les grandes villes de la région.

   This train serves the big towns in the region.

   Les résidents s’unissent contre la fermeture du seul bureau de poste qui dessert leur quartier.

   The residents are uniting against the closure of the only post office serving the neighbourhood.

Conjugation

This is one of a fairly large group of irregular -ir verbs that are all conjugated the same way. Other members of this group include sortir and dormir. The most significant difference between these verbs' conjugation and that of the regular -ir verbs is that these verbs' conjugation does not use the infix -iss-. Further, this conjugation has the forms (je, tu) dessers and (il) dessert in the present indicative and imperative, whereas a regular -ir verb would have *desservis and *desservit (as in the past historic).

Conjugation of desservir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	desservir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	desservant /de.sɛʁ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		desservi /de.sɛʁ.vi/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessert /de.sɛʁ/	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservait /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservaient /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/
	past historic2	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservit /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservîmes /de.sɛʁ.vim/	desservîtes /de.sɛʁ.vit/	desservirent /de.sɛʁ.viʁ/
	future	desservirai /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviras /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservira /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservirons /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/	desservirez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviront /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirait /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirions /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁjɔ̃/	desserviriez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁje/	desserviraient /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desserves /de.sɛʁv/	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect2	desservisse /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservisses /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservît /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservissions /de.sɛʁ.vi.sjɔ̃/	desservissiez /de.sɛʁ.vi.sje/	desservissent /de.sɛʁ.vis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	—	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• desserte

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French desservir, from dé- +‎ servir; cf. etymology 1.

Verb

desservir

1. (transitive) to clear, clear away (e.g. a table)

Conjugation

This is one of a fairly large group of irregular -ir verbs that are all conjugated the same way. Other members of this group include sortir and dormir. The most significant difference between these verbs' conjugation and that of the regular -ir verbs is that these verbs' conjugation does not use the infix -iss-. Further, this conjugation has the forms (je, tu) dessers and (il) dessert in the present indicative and imperative, whereas a regular -ir verb would have *desservis and *desservit (as in the past historic).

Conjugation of desservir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	desservir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	desservant /de.sɛʁ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		desservi /de.sɛʁ.vi/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessert /de.sɛʁ/	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservait /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservaient /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/
	past historic2	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservit /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservîmes /de.sɛʁ.vim/	desservîtes /de.sɛʁ.vit/	desservirent /de.sɛʁ.viʁ/
	future	desservirai /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviras /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservira /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservirons /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/	desservirez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviront /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirait /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirions /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁjɔ̃/	desserviriez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁje/	desserviraient /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desserves /de.sɛʁv/	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect2	desservisse /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservisses /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservît /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservissions /de.sɛʁ.vi.sjɔ̃/	desservissiez /de.sɛʁ.vi.sje/	desservissent /de.sɛʁ.vis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	—	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Etymology 3

From servir, with the prefix dé- (from Latin dis-).

Verb

desservir

1. (transitive) to do a disservice, to perform ill offices (to someone)

Conjugation

This is one of a fairly large group of irregular -ir verbs that are all conjugated the same way. Other members of this group include sortir and dormir. The most significant difference between these verbs' conjugation and that of the regular -ir verbs is that these verbs' conjugation does not use the infix -iss-. Further, this conjugation has the forms (je, tu) dessers and (il) dessert in the present indicative and imperative, whereas a regular -ir verb would have *desservis and *desservit (as in the past historic).

Conjugation of desservir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	desservir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	desservant /de.sɛʁ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		desservi /de.sɛʁ.vi/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	dessert /de.sɛʁ/	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservais /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservait /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservaient /de.sɛʁ.vɛ/
	past historic2	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservis /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservit /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservîmes /de.sɛʁ.vim/	desservîtes /de.sɛʁ.vit/	desservirent /de.sɛʁ.viʁ/
	future	desservirai /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviras /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservira /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁa/	desservirons /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/	desservirez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁe/	desserviront /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirais /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirait /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/	desservirions /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁjɔ̃/	desserviriez /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁje/	desserviraient /de.sɛʁ.vi.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desserves /de.sɛʁv/	desserve /de.sɛʁv/	desservions /de.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	desserviez /de.sɛʁ.vje/	desservent /de.sɛʁv/
	imperfect2	desservisse /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservisses /de.sɛʁ.vis/	desservît /de.sɛʁ.vi/	desservissions /de.sɛʁ.vi.sjɔ̃/	desservissiez /de.sɛʁ.vi.sje/	desservissent /de.sɛʁ.vis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	dessers /de.sɛʁ/	—	desservons /de.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	desservez /de.sɛʁ.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “desservir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.