In Italian there are several ways to express the concept of serving or helping oneself. The verb servire means "to serve":- A2 \ Y6 N4 i
Il cameriere serve il caffè ai clienti. (The waiter serves coffee to the customers.) * T. i. R7 Q: ?9 u The phrase servirsi da, which literally means "to serve oneself" refers to the concept of helping oneself:6 r! \5 l8 P8 r; M5 U7 K
Grazie lo stesso; ci serviamo da soli. (Thank you anyway; we'll serve (help) ourselves.)8 P6 Q' F/ V( [/ `
The phrase servirsi di means "to use" or "to avail oneself of": - `' n) _# `; }" N- ?4 } Per adesso mi servo di questi libri. (For now I use these books)( S b! R% b. \% B) N& f" g9 }. }
And finally, the phrase non servire a nulla means "to be of no use":5 o, J7 R% l3 f% ~4 P
Queste cose non servono a nulla. (These things are useless.)