Breakdown of Prefiero usar mi chaqueta roja, no la de mi hermano.
de
from / of
el hermano
the brother
no
no, not
rojo
red
mi
my
la chaqueta
the jacket
usar
to use / to wear
preferir
to prefer
la
the (feminine)
Questions & Answers about Prefiero usar mi chaqueta roja, no la de mi hermano.
Why do we say la de instead of just la chaqueta de?
Using la de is a shortcut that lets us avoid repeating the word chaqueta. Because chaqueta is a feminine singular noun, we use la to mean "the one." So, la de mi hermano literally means "the one of my brother" or simply "my brother's."
I thought llevar meant "to wear." Why does this sentence use usar?
In Latin America, it is very common to use usar (which normally means "to use") to talk about wearing clothing or accessories. You can also use llevar or llevar puesto, but usar is completely natural here.
Why is usar left in its infinitive form instead of being conjugated?
When two verbs are paired together and share the same subject (here, "I prefer" and "I wear"), only the first verb is conjugated. Prefiero handles the "I" part, so the second verb, usar, stays in its infinitive form (to wear).
Why does preferir change to prefiero?
Preferir is a stem-changing verb, often called a "boot verb." In the present tense, the second e in the stem changes to ie for most subjects, including yo (I). That is why it becomes prefiero instead of "prefero."
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