preferir means: to prefer
Click to see all conjugation charts of preferir in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to inflect the verb preferir in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the preferir verb conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation see the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

We also have a Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you will get additional information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of exceptions and special cases.

How to translate Presente to English

Notice that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

The Spanish Presente de Indicativo tense translates to one of the following:

• The English Present tense, for instance:
  tú prefieres

  you prefer
• The English Present Progressive (also called Present Continuous) tense, for instance:
  en este momento nosotros preferimos

  we are prefering at the moment
  
  Notice though, that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (a.k.a. Presente Continuo).

Note the timeline

The ability to correctly locate the intended position on the timeline is a crucial skill for proper choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. After some practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Presente belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated form consists of two words. The verb preferir has an irregular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. The first person singular has an irregular stem in this tense.

This verb belongs to the group which gets a mix of changes, both e to ie (in Presente Indicativo, persons 1, 2, 3 singular and 3 plural) and e to i (in Pretérito Perfecto Simple, persons 1 singular and 3 plural).

So in the regular stem prefer change e to ie to get prefier. But at least the ending is regular for this person. It is -o as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• yo prefiero – I prefer

The second person singular also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained previously we need to change e to ie in the regular stem prefer to get prefier. Similarly the ending is regular for this person. It is -es as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• tú prefieres – you prefer

The third person singular also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained before we need to change e to ie in the regular stem prefer to get prefier. And similarly the ending is regular for this person. It is -e as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• él prefiere – he prefers
• ella prefiere – she prefers
• usted prefiere – (formal) you prefer

The first person plural has a regular stem. So we need to use prefer- at the beginning of this form. Add the regular ending -imos for this person to get preferimos:

• nosotros preferimos – we prefer
• nosotras preferimos – (feminine) we prefer

And exactly as previously the second person plural has a regular stem. So simply use prefer- as the basis for this person’s form. And once more add the regular ending -ís for this person to get preferís:

• vosotros preferís – (plural) you prefer
• vosotras preferís – (feminine, plural) you prefer

The third person plural also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained earlier we need to change e to ie in the regular stem prefer to get prefier. And similarly the ending is regular for this person. It is -en as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• ellos prefieren – they prefer
• ellas prefieren – (feminine) they prefer
• ustedes prefieren – (formal, plural) you prefer

Hurray! The conjugation is now done. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	prefiero	I prefer
tú	prefieres	you prefer
él/ella/usted	prefiere	he/she/it prefers
nosotros/nosotras	preferimos	we prefer
vosotros/vosotras	preferís	you prefer
ellos/ellas/ustedes	prefieren	they prefer

Click to see all conjugation charts of preferir in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to retain it. Check below for examples and some links.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your skills check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PretéritoImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to preferir visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for preferir visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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