preferían

Preferían is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb preferir, meaning "to prefer." It is used with third-person plural subjects (ellos, ellas) and, in many dialects, with ustedes. In the vosotros form, the imperfect is preferíais. The form conveys a past habit or a past state of preference rather than a single completed action.

Etymology and conjugation: preferir comes from Latin praeferre. In the imperfect, the forms are built on the stem prefer- plus the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Therefore the forms are prefería, preferías, prefería, preferíamos, preferíais, preferían. The accent mark on the í is present in all imperfect forms, helping indicate the correct pronunciation and tense.

Usage: The imperfect form preferían describes ongoing or repeated preferences in the past. It is common in narration to set scenes or contrast past preferences with present ones. It is not used to describe a single completed event; for a past single decision, the preterite preferieron would be used instead.

Examples: Ellos preferían la playa a la montaña cuando eran jóvenes. (They preferred the beach to the mountains when they were young.) En esa época, ustedes preferían estudiar por la mañana, no por la tarde. (At that time, you all preferred studying in the morning, not in the afternoon.) In indirect speech, one might report what someone said or thought in the past using preferían.

See also: preferir, imperfect tense in Spanish, Spanish verb conjugation patterns.