Preferías

Preferías is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb preferir for the second person singular (tú). It is used to express a habitual or ongoing preference in the past, describing actions or states that were regular or general during a period before now. It contrasts with the present tense prefieres and the preterite preferiste.

Morphology and usage notes: preferir is an -ir verb with a stem that changes in the present tense, but in the imperfect there is no stem change. The imperfect endings are -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían, all with an accent on the í: prefería, preferías, prefería, preferíamos, preferíais, preferían. The subject pronoun tú is typically implied by the verb form, but can be explicit: tú preferías.

Common uses include describing past habits, repeated preferences, or states. Examples: “Cuando era joven, tú preferías la playa a la montaña.” “Antes, tú preferías quedarte en casa los fines de semana.”

Notes on related forms: other tenses include preferiré (futuro), preferiré? no, the future is preferiré; presente es prefieres; pretérito simple es preferiste; and el modo subjuntivo imperfecto podría ser “prefiriera” or “preferiera.” The form preferirías can also appear ambiguous in some contexts because it is identical in spelling to the imperfect and to the conditional of preferir; context usually clarifies whether it means “you would prefer” (condicional) or “you used to prefer” (imperfect). In many varieties of Spanish, including voseo regions, the same form is used with vos for imperfect.