preferíais

Preferíais is the second-person plural form of the Spanish verb preferir in the pretérito imperfecto de indicativo. It corresponds to “you all were preferring” or “you all used to prefer,” and is used with the pronouns vosotros or vosotras. This form is typical of Peninsular Spanish; in most of Latin America the equivalent is ustedes preferían.

Morphology and form: The imperfect of -ir verbs in Spanish uses endings such as -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Therefore, preferíais is formed from the stem prefer- plus the ending -íais. The accent on í marks the stress and helps distinguish this form from other tenses.

Usage: The imperfect tense describes habitual or ongoing past actions, past descriptions, or states without specifying a definite beginning or end. Preferíais expresses that a group used to have a preference in the past. It can appear in descriptive narration or in discussions of past habits or tendencies.

Examples: “Cuando éramos niños, vosotros preferíais la playa a la montaña.” “Antes, vosotros preferíais comer temprano.” Note that in Latin American Spanish, one would commonly use ustedes preferían instead of vosotros form. Related forms include present vosotros preferís (you all prefer) and imperfect ustedes preferían.