Learn Spanish (Spain): Prefiero el gato negro.

Prefiero el gato negro.

I prefer the black cat.

Breakdown of Prefiero el gato negro.

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Questions & Answers about Prefiero el gato negro.

Why is it prefiero and not prefero?

The verb is preferir (to prefer). It is a stem-changing verb, meaning a vowel inside the word changes when you use it. In the present tense, the e changes to ie for the I form. So, instead of prefero, we say prefiero.

Preferir has two e's. How do I know which one changes to ie?

If a verb has more than one vowel in its stem, it is always the vowel closest to the ending that changes. For preferir, we take off the -ir ending to get the stem prefer-. The second e is closest to the end, so that is the one that changes, giving us prefiero.

Where is the word for I (yo)?

In Spanish, the verb ending usually tells you who is doing the action. The -o at the end of prefiero specifically means I prefer. You can include yo before the verb for emphasis, but it is completely normal and more common to leave it out.

Why is the word order el gato negro instead of el negro gato?

In English, describing words (adjectives) go before the noun, like black cat. In Spanish, adjectives like negro almost always come directly after the noun they are describing, resulting in gato negro.