Preferir | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Preferir means to prefer. It is high-frequency from your very first conversations — "Prefiro café" (I prefer coffee) — and it carries two things worth memorizing carefully. First, it is a stem-changing -ir verb: the e of the stem becomes i in the 1sg present (prefiro) and throughout the present subjunctive (prefira, prefiramos, prefiram). Second, when you prefer one thing to another, Portuguese marks the rejected option with the preposition a (prefiro X a Y), not with anything resembling English than. The English-transfer error "prefiro X do que Y" is the single most common mistake learners make with this verb.

The stem change: e → i

Preferir belongs to the e→i class of -ir verbs (like sentir → sinto, servir → sirvo, repetir → repito). The rule is precise:

In the present indicative, only the 1sg (eu) changes: prefiro. Every other person keeps the e of the infinitive: prefere, preferimos, preferem.
In the present subjunctive, the changed stem prefir- runs through all persons: prefira, prefiras, prefira, prefiramos, prefiram.
Everywhere else — preterite, imperfect, futures, gerund — the stem stays prefer-: preferi, preferia, preferirei, preferindo.

The reason is phonological history: the 1sg and the subjunctive endings pull the stem vowel up to a high i, while the other present forms keep it as e. You do not need the history; you need prefiro and prefira burned into memory.

Indicative

Pronoun	Presente	Pretérito perfeito	Pretérito imperfeito	Futuro do presente	Futuro do pretérito
eu	prefiro	preferi	preferia	preferirei	preferiria
tu/você	prefere	preferiu	preferia	preferirá	preferiria
ele/ela	prefere	preferiu	preferia	preferirá	preferiria
nós	preferimos	preferimos	preferíamos	preferiremos	preferiríamos
vocês	preferem	preferiram	preferiam	preferirão	prefeririam
eles/elas	preferem	preferiram	preferiam	preferirão	prefeririam

So the full present is prefiro, prefere, preferimos, preferem — only the eu form raises to i. Note that preferimos is the same in present and preterite; context disambiguates.

Subjunctive

Pronoun	Presente do subjuntivo	Imperfeito do subjuntivo	Futuro do subjuntivo
eu	prefira	preferisse	preferir
tu/você	prefira	preferisse	preferir
ele/ela	prefira	preferisse	preferir
nós	prefiramos	preferíssemos	preferirmos
vocês	prefiram	preferissem	preferirem
eles/elas	prefiram	preferissem	preferirem

The present subjunctive is built off the raised stem prefir-, so the i appears in every person: prefira, prefiramos, prefiram. The imperfect and future subjunctive keep prefer-: preferisse, preferir.

Imperative, non-finite

Pronoun	Imperativo afirmativo	Imperativo negativo
você	prefira	não prefira
nós	prefiramos	não prefiramos
vocês	prefiram	não prefiram

Form	Conjugation
Infinitivo impessoal	preferir
Infinitivo pessoal	preferir / preferir / preferir / preferirmos / preferirem / preferirem
Gerúndio	preferindo
Particípio	preferido

💡

Two forms carry the whole irregularity: prefiro (1sg present) and prefira (subjunctive + imperative). Both raise e to i. The affirmative imperative você form is therefore prefira — "Prefira a escada à esteira" (Choose the stairs over the escalator), like you see on health posters.

The comparison structure: preferir X A Y

This is the construction English speakers get wrong most often. To say I prefer X to/over Y, Portuguese marks the second item with the preposition a — never with do que or que.

preferir [thing 1] a [thing 2] = to prefer [thing 1] over [thing 2]

Prefiro chá a café.

I prefer tea to coffee.

Ela prefere o frio ao calor.

She prefers the cold to the heat.

A gente prefere ir de carro a pegar o metrô lotado.

We'd rather go by car than take the packed subway.

Notice in the second example that a + o = ao (the masculine contraction), and in the first that a + o café would be ao café but with a bare noun café it stays a café. The prescriptive rule is firm: comparison after preferir uses a.

💡

Why a and not do que? Because preferir historically governs its rejected term as a kind of indirect object — you prefer something over against something else, and Portuguese uses a for that "directed-toward/against" relationship. In casual speech you will hear Brazilians say "prefiro X do que Y" — it is extremely common colloquially — but it is considered incorrect in careful writing and on exams. Use a when accuracy matters.

preferir + infinitive

To say you prefer to do something, just follow preferir with an infinitive. No preposition is needed.

Prefiro caminhar a ficar parado o dia todo.

I prefer walking to sitting still all day.

Eles preferem morar perto do trabalho.

They prefer to live near work.

When you compare two actions, the second infinitive still takes a: prefiro caminhar *a ficar parado (I prefer walking *to sitting still).

preferir que + subjunctive

When you prefer that someone else do something, preferir que triggers the subjunctive, because the preferred action is a wish, not a fact.

Prefiro que você dirija, estou cansada.

I'd prefer that you drive, I'm tired.

O médico prefere que a gente volte em uma semana.

The doctor prefers that we come back in a week.

Common Mistakes

❌ Eu prefero café.

Incorrect — the 1sg raises e→i: prefiro.

✅ Eu prefiro café.

I prefer coffee.

❌ Prefiro chá do que café.

Incorrect (prescriptively) — comparison after preferir uses 'a', not 'do que'.

✅ Prefiro chá a café.

I prefer tea to coffee.

❌ Quero que ela prefere o vinho.

Incorrect — after 'que' you need the subjunctive: prefira.

✅ Quero que ela prefira o vinho.

I want her to prefer the wine.

❌ Nós preferimos a praia que a montanha.

Incorrect — the rejected option takes 'a': à montanha (a + a).

✅ Nós preferimos a praia à montanha.

We prefer the beach to the mountains.

❌ Prefira você descansar.

Incorrect — to prefer that someone do something, use 'preferir que' + subjunctive.

✅ Prefiro que você descanse.

I'd prefer you to rest.

Key Takeaways

preferir = to prefer; e→i stem-changing -ir verb.
Irregular forms: prefiro (1sg present) and prefira/prefiramos/prefiram (present subjunctive + imperative). Everywhere else the stem stays prefer-.
Comparison structure: preferir X a Y (prefiro chá a café). Avoid do que in careful Portuguese, even though it's common in speech.
Watch the contractions: a + o = ao, a + a = à (preferir a praia à montanha).
preferir que + subjunctive when the preference is about someone else's action.

Now practice Portuguese

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Portuguese→