preferirías

Preferirías is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb preferir, specifically the second-person singular in the conditional mood. It translates roughly as “you would prefer.” The conditional is used to express hypothetical situations, desires in a non-assertive way, or polite requests. For example: ¿Qué comerías? (What would you eat?) or ¿Qué preferirías hacer? (What would you rather do?)

Usage and nuance

Preferirías typically appears in conversations about choices, preferences, or plans that depend on a condition or imagination. It can soften statements or requests, making them more courteous. It is also common in hypothetical questions or in reported speech after verbs that introduce a condition, such as “¿Qué sería lo que preferirías…?”

Morphology and related forms

Preferiríais, preferiría, preferiríamos, preferirían are the other forms of the same verb in the conditional mood for different persons: tú preferirías, yo preferiría, nosotros preferiríamos, vosotros preferiríais, ellos preferirían. The infinitive root is preferir, and the endings align with regular -ir verbs in the conditional. Despite its present-tense stem changes (e -> ie in the present), the conditional uses the regular infinitive stem with the appropriate endings.

Etymology

Preferir derives from the Latin praeferre, formed from prae- “before” and ferre “to bear/bring.” The verb has retained its core meaning of existing choices or priorities, with the conditional form extending its use to hypothetical or polite contexts.