Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Você prefere dirigir ou ir de ônibus para o supermercado? - Do you prefer to drive or take the bus to the supermarket?

Você means you (common in Brazil). In Portuguese you can drop the subject pronoun because the verb form often shows who’s doing the action, but with você people frequently keep it for clarity and normal conversational style.
You could also say: Prefere dirigir ou ir de ônibus para o supermercado? (still natural, just a bit more context-dependent).

Why is it você prefere and not something like você preferes?

In Brazil, você uses third-person singular verb forms (the same forms as ele/ela).
So it’s você prefere, not preferes (which goes with tu in places where tu is used with that conjugation).

What verb is prefere from, and what’s the basic conjugation pattern?

prefere comes from preferir (to prefer), a -ir verb with a common stem change in the present tense.
Present (common forms):

eu prefiro
você/ele/ela prefere
nós preferimos
vocês/eles/elas preferem

Why do we use dirigir and ir (infinitives) after prefere?

After verbs of preference/liking/wanting, Portuguese typically uses the infinitive to express the action you prefer:

preferir + infinitive → prefere dirigir / prefere ir
It’s like prefer to drive / prefer to go in English.

Does dirigir here mean to drive a car specifically, or can it mean other kinds of driving?

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, dirigir usually implies driving a motor vehicle, especially a car. If you wanted to be extra explicit, you could say dirigir um carro, but it’s not necessary here.

Why is it ir de ônibus and not ir no ônibus?

ir de + [transport] is the standard way to say go by [means of transport]:

ir de ônibus (by bus)
ir de carro (by car)
ir de metrô (by subway)
ir no ônibus can appear, but it tends to emphasize being on the bus (location/experience) rather than the means of transportation.

What does ou do here, and do I need to repeat prefere before the second option?

ou means or. You don’t need to repeat prefere because Portuguese (like English) can share it across the two choices:

Você prefere dirigir ou ir de ônibus...
Repeating it is possible for emphasis, but usually sounds heavy: Você prefere dirigir ou prefere ir de ônibus...

Why is it para o supermercado and not ao supermercado?

Both can be correct, but they feel slightly different.

para o supermercado = to the supermarket (very common, neutral)
ao supermercado = contraction of a + o, often felt as a bit more formal or “direction-to” focused in some contexts
In Brazil, para is extremely common for destinations in everyday speech.

What is o in para o supermercado?

o is the masculine singular definite article the. supermercado is masculine, so it takes o: o supermercado = the supermarket.

Could I contract para o to something shorter in speech?

Yes. In informal Brazilian Portuguese, para o is often reduced to pro in speech and casual writing:

...pro supermercado?
Similarly, para a often becomes pra: ...pra escola?

Is this sentence formal or informal? What would a more formal version look like?

It’s neutral-to-informal because it uses você (standard everyday Brazilian). More formal options include:

O senhor prefere dirigir ou ir de ônibus para o supermercado? (to a man)
A senhora prefere... (to a woman)

How is this sentence typically pronounced (especially você and ônibus)?

Common Brazilian pronunciation tips:

você often sounds like vo-SÊ (and in fast speech can reduce toward cê)
ônibus has stress on the first syllable: Ô-ni-bus
Also, the final r in dirigir is often soft or barely pronounced depending on the region.