How to say "to want" and "to prefer" in Spanish

Do you prefer tea or coffee? (¿Prefieres té o café?), Do you prefer wine or beer? (¿Prefieres vino o cerveza?). These are common questions people ask in Spanish, so it is very useful to learn how to say to want and to prefer in Spanish. To answer them we need to use the verbs QUERER (to want) and PREFERIR (to prefer).

• We use QUERER to express a wish or to talk about love. It means to want (when we are talkimg about things), or to love (when we talk about people). Ej: Quiero a Laura = I love Laura; Quiero un café = I want a coffee . 
• We use PREFERIR to express a preference. It means  to prefer. Ej.: No me gusta conducir; prefiero ir andando a los sitios. = I don't like to drive, I prefer to walk everywhere.

Be careful though! The verbs to want and to prefer in Spanish are irregular. They change the vowel in the present tense, so they belong to this verb group (verbos con cambio en la vocal). We suggest that you try to complete this table below with the form of the two verbs in the present tense. You will get the correct ones in green!

So what do you generally prefer? Tea or coffee? Wine or beer? If you enjoyed learning how to say to want and to prefer in Spanish, check out our blog to find more free Spanish exercises and downloadable PDFs that you can use to practice Spanish. We also recommend you one of ELINQUA's trial classes, so you can find out what our online Spanish lessons are like!