In Italian there are several ways to express the concept of serving or helping oneself. The verb servire means "to serve": : u% F+ E6 A9 @1 F. d% p7 B Il cameriere serve il caffè ai clienti. (The waiter serves coffee to the customers.)( o" `* ~, B. P
The phrase servirsi da, which literally means "to serve oneself" refers to the concept of helping oneself:6 v7 n1 l2 ?% F9 t0 l
Grazie lo stesso; ci serviamo da soli. (Thank you anyway; we'll serve (help) ourselves.)( A! g& M7 c2 L7 M
The phrase servirsi di means "to use" or "to avail oneself of":4 T3 ?" o% Q+ T
Per adesso mi servo di questi libri. (For now I use these books)* W/ W- t5 {$ l
And finally, the phrase non servire a nulla means "to be of no use":/ k1 o" { E/ M) |" H' Z4 }' H; l- J' J
Queste cose non servono a nulla. (These things are useless.)