Mi hermana prefiere la piña, pero yo me llevo una mandarina y unas cerezas al parque.

My sister prefers pineapple, but I’m taking a mandarin and some cherries to the park.

Breakdown of Mi hermana prefiere la piña, pero yo me llevo una mandarina y unas cerezas al parque.

• yo: I
• una: a
• mi: my
• pero: but

Questions & Answers about Mi hermana prefiere la piña, pero yo me llevo una mandarina y unas cerezas al parque.

Why does Spanish say la piña instead of just piña?

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with foods when talking about likes, dislikes, or preferences.

So:

• Mi hermana prefiere la piña = My sister prefers pineapple

Here la piña does not necessarily mean one specific pineapple. It often means pineapple as a food / in general.

This is different from English, where we usually say just pineapple with no article.

A few similar examples:

• Me gusta el café = I like coffee
• Prefiero la pasta = I prefer pasta
• No me gusta el pescado = I don’t like fish

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Why is it prefiere?

Prefiere is the third-person singular form of preferir in the present tense, because the subject is mi hermana.

• yo prefiero
• tú prefieres
• él / ella / usted prefiere

So:

• Mi hermana prefiere... = My sister prefers...

Also, preferir is a stem-changing verb, so the e in the stem changes to ie in most present-tense forms:

• preferir
• prefiero
• prefieres
• prefiere
• preferimos
• preferís
• prefieren

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Why is included? Isn’t it optional in Spanish?