Preferir conjugation chart
Preferir present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I prefer | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you prefer | |
| vos | you prefer | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she prefers | |
| nosotros | we prefer | |
| vosotros | you all prefer | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they prefer |
The highlighted forms change their stem. Notice that nosotros, vosotros and vos stay out: draw a line around the forms that change and you get a boot, which is why these are called “boot verbs.”
Preferir preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you preferred | |
| vos | you preferred | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she preferred | |
| nosotros | we preferred | |
| vosotros | you all preferred | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they preferred |
Irregular in él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): prefirió, prefirieron…; the other forms are regular.
Preferir imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you preferred | |
| vos | you preferred | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she preferred | |
| nosotros | we preferred | |
| vosotros | you all preferred | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they preferred |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Preferir future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will prefer | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will prefer | |
| vos | you will prefer | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will prefer | |
| nosotros | we will prefer | |
| vosotros | you all will prefer | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will prefer |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Preferir conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would prefer | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would prefer | |
| vos | you would prefer | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would prefer | |
| nosotros | we would prefer | |
| vosotros | you all would prefer | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would prefer |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Preferir present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I prefer | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you prefer | |
| vos | that you prefer | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she prefer | |
| nosotros | that we prefer | |
| vosotros | that you all prefer | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they prefer |
Irregular stem prefi- + -era, -eras, -ramos, -ráis, -eran.
Preferir imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you preferred | |
| vos | if you preferred | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she preferred | |
| nosotros | if we preferred | |
| vosotros | if you all preferred | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they preferred |
Irregular stem prefiri- + -era, -eras, -éramos, -erais, -eran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (prefiriese), more common in writing.
Preferir affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | prefer! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | prefer! | |
| usted | prefer! | |
| nosotros | let's prefer! | |
| vosotros | prefer! | |
| ustedes | prefer! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: prefiere. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (prefiera, prefiramos, prefieran).
Preferir negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't prefer! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't prefer! | |
| usted | don't prefer! | |
| nosotros | let's not prefer! | |
| vosotros | don't prefer! | |
| ustedes | don't prefer! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + prefieras, prefiera…
Always the verb haber + the past participle preferido, which never changes.
Preferir present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he preferido |
|---|---|
| tú | has preferido |
| vos | has preferido |
| él, ella, usted | ha preferido |
| nosotros | hemos preferido |
| vosotros | habéis preferido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han preferido |
Preferir pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había preferido |
|---|---|
| tú | habías preferido |
| vos | habías preferido |
| él, ella, usted | había preferido |
| nosotros | habíamos preferido |
| vosotros | habíais preferido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían preferido |
Preferir future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré preferido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás preferido |
| vos | habrás preferido |
| él, ella, usted | habrá preferido |
| nosotros | habremos preferido |
| vosotros | habréis preferido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán preferido |
Preferir conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría preferido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías preferido |
| vos | habrías preferido |
| él, ella, usted | habría preferido |
| nosotros | habríamos preferido |
| vosotros | habríais preferido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían preferido |
Preferir present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya preferido |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas preferido |
| vos | hayas preferido |
| él, ella, usted | haya preferido |
| nosotros | hayamos preferido |
| vosotros | hayáis preferido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan preferido |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
“I prefer X to Y” uses a, not “que”: prefiero el té al café. “I'd rather” is just prefiero + infinitive, with no word for “to”: prefiero quedarme. When someone else does it, add que + subjunctive: prefiero que vengas mañana.
Examples with preferir
Prefiero el té al café.
I prefer tea to coffee.
Al final prefirió quedarse en casa.
In the end, she preferred to stay home.
¿Qué preferirías: playa o montaña?
What would you rather do: the beach or the mountains?
Practice preferir
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like preferir
Stem change e → ie (preferir → prefieres). Same pattern:
tener tienesquerer quieresvenir vienespensar piensasempezar empiezascomenzar comienzascerrar cierrasentender entiendes