"to prefer" in seven languages
Meaningto prefer
Spanish
preferir
/pɾefeˈɾiɾ/
learned
Stem-changing: prefiero.
French
préférer
/pʁefeʁe/
learned
Je préfère, with a grave accent.
Italian
preferire
/prefeˈrire/
learned
Takes -isc-: preferisco.
Portuguese
preferir
/pɾefeˈɾih/
learned
Romanian
prefera
/prefeˈra/
learned
Catalan
preferir
/pɾəfəˈɾi/
learned
English
prefer
/pɹɪˈfɝ/
from Latin/French · Old French preferer, from Latin
English → Italianto preferpreferireCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PRAEFERRE‘to carry in front’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
To prefer is to 'carry in front'. Learned in all three, yet each conjugates it its own way: prefiero, je préfère, preferisco.
English relatives: preference, transfer, offer
Learn it
In a sentence
- esPrefiero el té.
- frJe préfère le thé.
- itPreferisco il tè.
- ptPrefiro chá.
- roPrefer ceai.
- caPrefereixo te.
- enI prefer tea.
More words from the same Latin
More in Core verbs
- to tend (to)tendertendretenderetendertindetendir
- to depend (on)dependerdépendredipenderedependerdepindedependre
- to identifyidentificaridentifieridentificareidentificaridentificaidentificar
- to promote (encourage, publicize)promoverpromouvoirpromuoverepromoverpromovapromoure
- to supposesuponersupposersupporresuporpresupunesuposar
- to arrestdetenerarrêterarrestareprenderarestadetenir